Nolan Arenado Discussing Trade & Position Shift With Marquee Team

The St. Louis Cardinals are so enamoured with the prospect of trading declining veteran Nolan Arenado that they've sent him and his agent out into the marketplace to talk to teams directly and find themselves a deal. 

The St. Louis Cardinals have given permission for Nolan Arenado's agent, Joel Wolfe, to speak directly to teams to help facilitate a trade. Arenado has a full-no trade clause is willing to go to several teams with a list "that's bigger than you would think,'' Wolfe says

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 10, 2024

According to a report from Jesse Rogers of ESPN, Arenado, the 10-time Gold Glover at third base, is willing to switch positions across the diamond to first base to facilitate a trade to a team like the New York Yankees. 

"Nolan's willing to strongly consider it, if it's the right place to go, but he's not going to go just anywhere," said his agent Joel Wolfe. "He has a full no-trade clause, so he has that right, and he's a veteran player and we hope something good happens, but he's not going to approve and move his family and go play (just anywhere)."

The Bronx, however, is not "just anywhere." The Yankees are coming off a World Series appearance, and are usually a perennial playoff team, and would be a place that Arenado would undoubtedly waive his no-trade for. 

The Yankees are in need of both a first and third baseman, so Arenado could fill in at either spot.  

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that three other notable teams are in discussions with Arenado and the Cards over a potential deal: The Boston Red Sox, San Diego Padres and possibly the Houston Astros, should they lose their own longtime third-sacker Alex Bregman in free agency.

Arenado's 16 home runs this past season are his fewest since his rookie season 11 years earlier. His offense has, in fact, been declining for the last two years, and his Baseball Savant page is not pretty, as his Average Exit Velocity was in the 9th percentile across baseball this past season, his Hard Hit rate in the 12th percentile, and his Barrels in the 6th percentile. That's not very impressive contact. 

The 33-year-old is still owed $74 million over the final three years of his contract.