Nolan Arenado doesn't want to play in Houston, may start a troubling trend for Astros

The Houston Astros don't seem as big of a high-profile destination anymore. According to MLB.com's Mark Feinsand, St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado will not waive his no-trade clause for a move to Houston. The Astros and Cardinals had reportedly been discussing a trade involving Arenado.

Feinsand, reporting with John Denton and Brian McTaggert, says it's not currently known why Arenado doesn't want to be traded to Houston, but noted it could have something to do with a move the Astros made last week.

"Houston's trade of Kyle Tucker to the Cubs last week couldn't have helped its effort to land the 10-time Gold Glove Award winner," the three reported on Arenado's decision.

NEWS: Nolan Arenado blocks potential trade to Astros, sources tell me, @brianmctaggart & @JohnDenton555

FULL STORY: https://t.co/zPtreNywha
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) December 18, 2024

However, if you ask Katie Woo of The Athletic, Arenado's decision is partially due to not wanting to make a decision on where he'll play in 2025 too early in the offseason. This may force the Astros to pivot elsewhere, or they can table a potential Arenado trade for sometime in early January.

Arenado is coming off a season in which he hit .272 with 16 home runs and 71 RBI. The Astros are likely trying to trade for him to be a replacement for Alex Bregman who seems to be moving on from the Astros. The Boston Red Sox are currently the favorite to sign Bregman. Arenado not waiving his no-trade clause for Houston may be a sign of bad things to come for the Astros.

Houston is already going to look very different, with right fielder Kyle Tucker gone and Alex Bregman soon to join him. Bregman leaving would leave just Jose Altuve from the group that won the franchise's first World Series in 2017. Of course, they still have Yordan Alvarez and Jeremy Peña, but the team has gotten worse that it was last year, when it finished 88-73 and lost to the Detroit Tigers in the Wild Card Round. It was the first season since 2016 the Astros didn't make the ALCS.

Free agents and trade candidates could see Houston as a team going in the wrong direction and thus wouldn't want to play for them. Of course, this probably means they'll win the World Series in 2025 and shut the haters up. You can't write off the Astros, but it seems Nolan Arenado has.