Angels are one of the team that are not blocked by his no trade clause. Should they trade for him? Arenado will turn 34 early next season. After a 3rd place MVP finish in 2022, he has declined a bit, especially his power numbers. The homers have gone from 34 to 30 to 26 to 16 last season. His strikeout and walk numbers have not changed much, neither has his batting average. The Angels would have to hope for a bit of a rebound in the power numbers but face the possibility that this is his aging curve.

On the plus side, he remains an excellent defender, and is one of the most durable players in the game. My projections have him hitting .260 with 20 homers next year. Doing that along with his defense would definitely help the team and probably motivate them to cut Anthony Rendon.

Arenado is signed for 3 more years at a total of 74 million, of which 10 million will be paid by the Rockies. His WAR projections are 2.2, 1.7, and 1.1 over that time. Since teams are paying 12.6 million per win on the free agent market, Arenado's contract value is currently at 68 million. So even if the Cardinals don't kick anything in, he's worth the money. Not a lot of surplus value but if they are highly motivated to trade him, then I'd love to see the Angels pick him up for a lower ranked prospect, maybe someone around #20 to #30 on the organization list.

It would definitely beat the option of signing Bregman, since he's likely still after a 6 or 7 year deal. Bregman was better last season but over the last 4, Arenado has a slight 1 WAR edge over Alex. They are not much different on the production, but Arenado would come at a much lower cost.

Astros indeed tried to make that exact swap and were trying to acquire Arenado to replace Bregman, but they are on his no-trade list and he vetoed it. Nolan went to high school 18 miles away from Angel Stadium. His full name is Nolan James Arenado, so I don't know if Nolan Ryan was a consideration in choosing his name. If the Angels do get him though, he will throw the ball to first baseman Nolan Ryan Schanuel.