5 potential trade suitors for Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado
As the Colorado Rockies face the reality of losing Nolan Arenado, these five teams could make a trade to get him.
Coming off a 91-loss season in 2019, Colorado Rockies owner Dick Monfort projected a 94-win campaign for his team in 2020. With a lack of offseason activity, openly lamented by third baseman Nolan Arenado, their win percentage was actually lower in 2020 (.433).
Arenado has been open with his discontent. He has said he feels “disrespected” and “crossed” by the Rockies. In a text to Troy Renck of Denver’s Channel 7 in January, he openly called out Rockies GM Jeff Bridich. And it’s not about being mentioned in trade rumors.
“Jeff is very disrespectful. I never talk trash or anything,” Arenado texted to Denver7. “I play hard, keep my mouth shut. But I can only get crossed so many times.”
Just heard again from #Rockies 3B Nolan Arenado, who wanted to make sure his statement was clear: "I'm not mad at trade rumors. There's more to it than that." As my story said, he didn't comment on specifics of feeling disrespected but wanted to be clear it wasn't the rumors.
— Thomas Harding (@harding_at_mlb) January 21, 2020
Arenado signed an eight-year, $260 million contract extension with the Rockies in February of 2019. The deal has a no-trade clause, and an opt-out after 2021.It’s hard to imagine him leaving $164 million through 2026 on the table. But entering what’s sure to be another winter of discontent for him, Arenado may do it just to get out of Colorado after one more year. If a trade possibility is out there, waiving his no-trade clause doesn’t seem likely to be a significant barrier.
Arenado won his eighth straight Gold Glove in 2020. But he had a down year at the plate, with a .253/.303/.434 slash-line, eight home runs and 26 RBI over 201 plate appearances. His deeper numbers (wRC+, OPS+, average exit velocity, hard-hit rate, barrel rate) were all down too. A left shoulder injury that bothered him late ended his season early, and was definitely a factor in his downturn last season.
https://twitter.com/jonmorosi/status/1329624912747761664?s=20
Financial concerns across baseball will impact any possible trade market for Arenado, given the money he’s due going forward. That he may be a one-year rental is also sure to impact things.
That said, these five teams could make a deal for the five-time All-Star.
5 teams who could trade for Nolan Arenado
Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Miami Marlins. 5. player. NL. East. 82
The Marlins made the playoffs for the first time since 2003 last season, and upset the Chicago Cubs in a Wild Card Series. As might be expected given their history, they have the lowest projected payroll for 2021 ($46.55 million, according to Spotrac.
A restructured Marlins front office, headlined by the hiring of Kim Ng as general manager, could make some moves this offseason while many other teams sit idle or try to reduce payroll.
Brian Anderson saw most of the action at third base for Miami last season (56 games-55 starts), and he’s fine player (1.7 bWAR in 2020, 3.7 bWAR in 2019, 3.2 bWAR in 2018). But he is also versatile, and can be moved to right field to accommodate Arenado’s addition (and upgrade) at the hot corner.
On the heels of the surprising success of 2020, with early COVID-19 issues leading to roster turnover, the Marlins are a dark horse to be active this offseason. A trade offer for Arenado could look like this.