Projected Astros lineup if Houston manages to land Nolan Arenado after all

The St. Louis Cardinals very nearly traded Nolan Arenado to the Houston Astros back at the Winter Meetings, but the former All-Star balked at the final buzzer. Arenado, equipped with a full no-trade clause, initially put Houston on his list of five acceptable landing spots. When John Mozeliak threatened to pull the trigger, however, Arenado said sike.

One has to believe he was hoping for a more glamorous club to swoop in and trade for him. Perhaps the New York Yankees with old pal Paul Goldschmidt, or a West Coast vacation in Los Angeles. As spring training gets underway, however, it's clear the market for Arenado is extremely narrow. In fact, it's probably Astros or bust.

So, with that in mind, Arenado has reopened his mind to the possibility of landing in Houston, per MLB.com's Mark Feinsand, Brian McTaggart, and John Denton.

The Astros officially lost Alex Bregman to the Boston Red Sox last week. There is not a pressing need at either third base or first base after offseason maneuvers to land Isaac Paredes and Christian Walker, but the Astros can use all the offensive firepower they can get their hands on after axing both Bregman and Kyle Tucker — even if it requires some awkward positional swaps.

With that said, here is how Arenado's arrival might shake up Houston's lineup.

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Projected Houston Astros lineup if Nolan Arenado trade finally goes through

Houston could go a number of directions here. Arenado has expressed a willingness to play first base with a new team, while Jose Altuve flirted with a move to left field in anticipation of a potential Bregman reunion.

Paredes feels like an easy candidate to move off of third, whereas Christian Walker is one of the best defensive first basemen in MLB and won't be haphazardly relocated. That would push Paredes to second base, presumably, with Altuve officially moving out of the infield after a highly decorated career at second.

This is a tremendous defensive boon for the Astros, perhaps even more so than an offensive upgrade. Arenado, even at 33 years old, remains an incredibly sharp defender at the hot corner. He won 10 straight Gold Glove Awards to open his career, boasting a singular track record of defensive excellence. He's on the downswing of his career, to be sure, but Arenado and Walker on the corners should pay dividends for Houston.

Altuve is inexperienced in the outfield, but there's no reason to believe he can't handle left. Paredes was more or less an average defensive third baseman last season in Tampa Bay and Chicago (-1 Outs Above Average). He's at the beginning of his prime and deserves a spot in the field accordingly, but Paredes' missteps will carry fewer consequences at second.

As for the offense, Arenado has been on a steep decline in recent years. He finished last season with a .719 OPS, the lowest since his rookie campaign all the way back in 2013. That said, Houston's ballpark is friendly toward right-handed hitters (thus their abundance of righties), and Arenado has a career .815 OPS at Daikin Park. So, there's reason to believe his numbers might perk up a bit with 81 home games in Houston.

Arenado gets the fifth spot on reputation, but there's a strong case for putting him behind the likes of Yanier Diaz, who is an ascendant talent and an important part of what the Astros hope is a successful second act for their waning dynasty.

We won't know the exact setup, of course, until and unless Arenado is actually in the building. He is due $52 million over the next three years, so St. Louis will need to eat some of that contract before Houston signs on the dotted line. Since this trade practically went down a few months ago, however, it shouldn't take too long to hash out the details.