As Cardinals weigh trade, Arenado widens list of acceptable destinations
Having made the decision to trade star third baseman Nolan Arenado, the St. Louis Cardinals have given permission to his agent, Joel Wolfe of Wasserman, to be actively involved in the process searching for a new team.
Arenado has expanded his list of potential destinations to be “bigger than you would think,” Wolfe said Tuesday, setting the stage for a potential match which would end his tenure in St. Louis.
Arenado holds a full no-trade clause, giving him control over the process. Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said Monday night that he expects the team’s necessary roster business – including a potential Arenado trade – to wrap up within the next seven to 10 days, and the process has intensified over the last week as free agents have signed with new teams.
“It’s more of an ongoing, back-and-forth discussion with Mo, who’s been very communicative, almost daily, weekly, with both Nolan and myself about what’s going on,” Wolfe said.
He also confirmed that Arenado expressed a willingness to add some positional flexibility to his repertoire in an attempt to find a desired fit for both player and team. In nearly 18,000 innings in the field as a professional, he has only appeared at third base.
“The way he phrased it, ‘I’ll play first,’ sometimes [teams] don’t want to ask a player to do that,” Wolfe said. “So he wanted to offer it and say, ‘I’m happy to play first, I can move around and play third.’ Nolan was like, ‘I’ll play shortstop, I’ll do whatever, but I’m not insulted to go play first, and I can win a Gold Glove over there, if that’s what it takes.’”
While Wolfe vehemently insisted that Arenado doesn’t have a geographic preference for his next team – “not anymore” – it’s noteworthy that potential suitors near his home in Southern California do have some positional roadblocks which might make a shift necessary.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, for instance, have incumbent stars at both first and third base with Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy, and the presence of Shohei Ohtani precludes utilizing Muncy as a designated hitter. Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes told reporters on Monday that the team expects Muncy to be their opening day third baseman, and praised his importance to their World Series-winning club.
The San Diego Padres, however, have a curious opening on the left side of their infield. Ha-Seong Kim is a free agent, and while Xander Bogaerts signed in San Diego two years ago as a shortstop, he was moved to second base before last season due to concerns over his defensive range.
Padres manager Mike Shildt answered several questions Monday about the potential of moving Bogaerts or rookie sensation Jackson Merrill back to shortstop, but declined to outline the team’s plan for the position.
Incumbent Padres third baseman Manny Machado has a whopping nine seasons left on his contract. He has also made 229 career starts at shortstop, though none have come since 2019 and industry observers expressed skepticism that he would be able to handle the position full time. The Padres, though, rotated Luis Arráez, Jake Cronenworth and Donovan Solano through first base last season, and utilizing a positional timeshare could open up the necessary spot for Arenado.
Shildt was the manager of the Cardinals when they acquired Arenado in 2021, and the two enjoyed a strong relationship, which could help make that transition even easier.
If not San Diego, it appears that the best for Arenado may be on the east coast with either the Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees. Former Colorado teammate and close friend Trevor Story has played just 163 games in his three seasons since signing in Boston, but he is now healthy and believed to be advocating for Arenado with the team’s front office.
The two are close enough that Arenado, in the midst of a turn in the batting cage at spring training in 2022, stepped out after overhearing conversation about Story signing his deal and asked a reporter for the contract details before resuming his swings.
The Yankees, meanwhile, utilized trade deadline acquisition Jazz Chisholm, Jr. at third base throughout the second half and postseason, the first time Chisholm had played the position as a professional. Gleyber Torres, formerly the Yankees second baseman, is a free agent, and Chisholm was previously an all star at second for the Miami Marlins.
Another former Arenado teammate and close friend, DJ LeMahieu, is under contract with the Yankees for two more seasons. As with Story in Boston, LeMahieu’s presence in New York could be helpful in assisting the famously hard-driven Arenado adjust to the pressures of one of baseball’s most intense spotlights.
With geography not a consideration, Wolfe was very clear about what does matter for Arenado in choosing his next stop: “A team that he thinks is going to win now and consistently for the remainder of his career.”
“He wants a team that has the throttle down – not saying that the Cardinals don’t – that he believes he can jump right in, and they’re gonna win right now.”
This story was originally published December 10, 2024 at 2:38 PM.
