Astros Make Major Move, Landing $ 52M Cardinals Star to Replace Alex Bregman in Blockbuster Trade!

The Houston Astros seem to have come to terms with the fact that they won’t be able to re-sign their star third baseman, Alex Bregman. Recently, they traded Kyle Tucker to the Chicago Cubs and brought in corner infielder Isaac Paredes. Paredes can potentially play first base, but the Astros might be looking to make another significant trade to find a new third baseman. Their primary target appears to be Nolan Arenado of the St. Louis Cardinals, who are keen on trading him.

Arenado still has $ 52 million left on his contract, and the Cardinals are reportedly willing to cover a substantial part of that to help facilitate a trade. However, Arenado has a no-trade clause and will only consider waiving it for six specific teams, none of which currently includes the Astros. If he re-evaluates his options, which seems more probable, the Astros could potentially make a major move to acquire him.

Here’s a proposed trade that would bring Arenado to Houston to take Bregman’s place:

Houston Astros receive: 3B Nolan Arenado, $ 20 million
St. Louis Cardinals receive: RHP A.J. Blubaugh (No. 10 prospect), RHP Rhett Kouba (No. 25 prospect)

The initial step in this potential trade would be securing Arenado’s approval for a move to the Astros. Given the Cardinals’ strong desire to trade him, it’s likely that Arenado will be open to expanding his no-trade list as the offseason continues. In this scenario, Houston would acquire Arenado to fill Bregman’s position, allowing them to save a considerable amount of money. The Cardinals would add $20milliontothedeal,coveringabout40$ 200 million to Bregman, the Astros would land Arenado by offering two prospects.

For the Cardinals, this trade would enable them to offload $ 32 million of Arenado’s contract while bringing in two promising pitching prospects. Blubaugh, a 24-year-old right-hander, has demonstrated significant potential with a solid performance in 2024 and seems ready to make further improvements in 2025. Kouba, who had a strong start to his career, faced considerable struggles in 2024. A new environment might be beneficial for him, and St. Louis would be getting a worthwhile buy-low prospect in this trade.