At this point, the Cardinals are ready to drag themselves into a bit of a teardown, and are ready to move on from prominent veteran pieces to do so. One of those could well catch the interest of the Yankees–and there’s plenty of speculation in MLB circles that he will.
The player is 33-year old third baseman Nolan Arenado, who has dropped off considerably in the past two seasons, and hit just 16 homes last year, arguably the worst year of his career. He is in the sixth season of an eight-year, $260 million deal he originally signed with the Rockies.
Arenado is a five-time Silver Slugger and a 10-time Gold Glove winner at third base, but given his age, he could be due for a position change. According to a report in The Athletic, Arenado would be open to transitioning to first base as he nears the end of his career.
That caused Yankees backers everywhere to tune in their attention–the Bombers need both a first baseman and a third baseman, so getting a quality veteran who can help in both spots would be a double victory.
Yankees Have Holes at 1B, 3B
The Yankees did not pick up the option on Anthony Rizzo’s contract, and figure to move Jazz Chisholm from third to second base, with Gleyber Torres leaving the team. That leaves big holes at first and third.
At the Yankees Go Yard site, one headline read, “Nolan Arenado’s latest trade wish practically screams ‘Yankees’.”
At CBS Sports, the Yankees came up as a trade destination for Arenado, with Matt Snyder writing, “The top priority this offseason for the Yankees is obviously Juan Soto. Once the dust settles there, we’ll see where they stand. They have an opening at first base after letting Anthony Rizzo walk in free agency. They could also put Arenado at third and play Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second. Such a move would improve the Yankees’ defense — which proved to be their undoing in Game 5 of the World Series — but the ballpark doesn’t do Arenado’s bat any favors, given how little he ever hits the ball to right field.”
Nelson Arenado Has a Worrisome Comp
Of course, some Yankees fans might have PTSD on a guy like Arenado, who bears some similarity to Josh Donaldson, the former Twins infielder who was a bust (he hit .222) in one season with the Yankees after New York acquired him at age 37.
At the site MLB Trade Rumors, that issue was mentioned in a mailbag this week. The response from MLBTR’s Steve Adams:
“Arenado has not been particularly productive in either of the past two seasons. He remains a strong defender at third, but his glovework isn’t at peak levels. I agree that there’s obvious risk of a decline, but Arenado has bat-to-ball skills Donaldson never matched and a higher defensive floor at this age. If adding Arenado is a complementary move after, say, re-signing Soto and/or bolstering the pitching staff, it’s a reasonable move for the Yankees (depending on cost of acquisition, of course).”
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