The Nolan Arenado trade saga has been going on since before the 2024 season ended, but his team, the St. Louis Cardinals, are now three games into their 2025 spring training schedule and Arenado is still there.
According to a report by The Athletic earlier this week, after Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak told Arenado he would look to unload Arenado’s contract, the eight-time All-Star third baseman gave him a list of five teams to target for a trade.
Due to Arenado’s no-trade clause in the eight-year, $260 million contract he signed with his original team, the Colorado Rockies — on which he is still owed about $37 million — Mozeliak’s hands were mostly tied. Arenado, according to the Athletic report, would accept trades only to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres or Houston Astros.
But when the Cardinals had a deal in place with Houston, Arenado had second thoughts and nixed that trade after all. When the Red Sox signed former Astros third baseman Alex Bregman at the outset of spring training, Boston was off the table as well. With Max Muncy and Manny Machado holding the hot corner for the Dodgers and Padres respectively, that leaves just one possible destination.
According to former big league catchers Erik Kratz and A.J. Pierzynski of the “Foul Territory” podcast, the Yankees are indeed the top destination for Arenado, if the Cardinals still hope to trade the 12-year veteran.
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“How badly does he want to win?,” Kratz asked on Monday’s podcast. “Because he could open it up to all 30 teams. Who would he go and play for then? Who would be the team that would be number one contender for him?”
“Right now with the way rosters are lined up it has to be the Yankees,” Pierzynski said, noting that at the moment, the Yankees’ primary third base option is 36-year-old DJ LeMahieu who has missed time with injuries in each of the last four seasons.
“LeMahieu hasn’t been able to stay on the field, so maybe they try things out, see if he stays on the field,” said Foul Territory host Scott Braun. “If not, they pick up the phone and call St. Louis. I do think Arenado would waive the no-trade clause to go to the Yankees.”
Arenado is also a significantly better all-around player than LeMahieu. Though Arenado’s 2024 OPS was a mediocre .719, LeMahieu managed only an anemic .527 last season.
In addition, in Fangraphs’ “defensive runs saved” category, measuring effectiveness in the field, Arenado recorded an impressive figure of six runs prevented. LeMahieu, on the other hand, allowed 0.9 runs more than an average third baseman.
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