He said he would waive the NTC to certain teams. He didn’t say he would do it for free. How big the list is depends upon how much cash slides across the table. Enough cash and the list is very big indeed. Not enough cash, it is very less big.
I see a lot of conjecture here without any basis of evidence. The Cards are not going to pay him under the table to waive his no trade clause. Arenado negotiated that in no trade clause in his contract and rightfully deserves it per the deal. It may be an inconvenience to the club, but the Cards also knew he had a no trade clause (and would have gotten it by 10 and 5 rights anyway) when they acquired Arenado.
I still think there is a chance he sticks with the team at least until the deadline or next off-season. His most expensive contract year will be paid down/off.
I was really annoyed with Arenado’s results last year, but he is still a good defender. I also think the results make sense after seeing he worked on going oppo all off-season last year. He needs to go back to his strengths and focus on pulling the ball into the air. If he does that, he may have a decent surplus value even by the deadline