Nolan Arenado is perhaps now on the back nine of his baseball career, but the St. Louis Cardinals star third baseman is still capable with his bat and glove.
Two years removed from his last All-Star season, Arenado is finding himself in the middle of another round of rumors about a potential trade, as the MLB's yearly Winter Meeting looms.
Trading Arenado comes with its challenges for the St. Louis President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom and the Cardinals' front office. For one, he has a full no-trade clause on his contract, giving him great leverage and dictating power, as mentioned by Katie Woo of The Athletic.
Wrote Woo: “This remains the most crucial task for Bloom, but just because it’s at the top of the priority list doesn’t mean the executive will operate in order. Multiple team sources agree that trading Arenado will be the most difficult endeavor of the offseason.
The reasons are essentially the same as last year. Arenado’s full no-trade clause, his preference to play for a contender and the lack of clarity in the third-base market all signal a trade taking place in the latter half of the winter. One aspect that has changed is ownership’s willingness to include money in a deal, as evidenced by the Gray trade.”
Then there's the apparent waiting game on when the dominoes will start to fall in the third baseman market.
” Similar to last year, the third-base market has to develop for the Cardinals to know what options are available. Multiple industry sources pointed towards Eugenio Suárez and Alex Bregman (again) as names to watch before Arenado’s market forms. The Japanese market, particularly corner infielder Munetaka Murakami, will also come into play,” added Woo.
Over the last two seasons, Arenado, who turned 34 in April, has hit just .257/.310/.387 with 28 home runs, 123 RBIs and a 96 OPS+ across 259 games.
