Nolan Arenado was a key figure in the retail market last year, but is the all-star third-baseman in Colorado finally coming to an end? The Cardinals are debating, according to a report from MLB Network insider Ken Rosenthal, who is discussing Arenado with the Rockies
The Cardinals are in talks with the Rockies, according to a report by MLB Network insider Ken MLenthal, who writes on The Athletic that Arenado “would likely forego its no-trade clause” to clear a deal with St. Louis about Arenado.
Talks between the Rockies and the Cardinals have gained momentum over the past week, a source shared with MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi. According to Rosenthal, the Braves have also considered taking over Arenado.
However, a deal is by no means imminent.
According to one source, the report is “slightly more urgent than reality” and stresses that conversations of this kind are common. The Rockies have been taking calls from teams inquiring about Arenado for several months, and while no deal with the Cardinals is imminent, the source added, “Such things either never happen or very quickly.”
Arenado has six years and $ 199 million left on its contract, but an opt-out after the 2021 season complicates the problem for an acquiring club that isn’t just taking over the rest of its business.
“I think the slow moving market has more to do with this type of conversation than anything else,” the source said. “It would be really difficult to get a deal with him for a variety of reasons.”
The Cardinals – or any club that acts for Arenado – could potentially ask the third baseman to adjust the opt-out before hitting a deal. For example, if he agreed to postpone the opt-out until the end of the 2022 season, this would guarantee that he would stay with his new team for at least two years, avoiding the possibility of a team giving up on acquiring him with the risk that he will leave at the end of this season.
This type of agreement would be permissible as long as Arenado’s contract was not devalued so that the acquiring team would likely have to provide something in return, such as an additional year of option, a trade assignment bonus, or some other restructuring of the contract.
To take over Arenado’s contract, the Cardinals would likely ask the Rockies to withdraw a contract or two in the deal. Matt Carpenter is owed $ 18.5 million this season and has a $ 20.5 million option in 2022 with a $ 2 million buyout, while Dexter Fowler this season is $ 14.5 million Dollar owes. Both players have a no-trade clause in their contract, but this may complicate matters. Andrew Miller and Carlos Martínez are the other eight-figure card players this year.
The Rockies are believed to be high on third baseman Nolan Gorman and left-handed Matthew Liberatore, who are ranked # 2 and # 3 in the Cardinals (and # 37 and 38 overall in MLB) according to the MLB Pipeline.
The Cardinals have shown no sign of willingness to take on a contract the size of Arenado, although it should be noted that St. Louis has only $ 51 million tied in payroll for 2022, of which more than 42 million US dollars to Paul Goldschmidt and Paul Goldschmidt go to Miles Mikolas.
John Mozeliak, president of the Cardinals for baseball operations, was asked if the team’s payroll might go down and if that might change. “No, I suppose it will be lower,” he said.
“I think I should just address something, there are a lot of rumors going on in the industry right now and I can imagine these are likely to continue, but I can’t add much to these other than just realizing that they are out there . And in terms of what we’re doing, spring training is clearly around the corner. … Still time to improve the club, still time to look at things. We’ll stay open and see what we can do.
“The third base is currently Matt Carpenter. My attitude towards rumors or free agents was always the same. Once you go down that rabbit hole you never come out. In terms of how we like our club right now, we like our team. But today is January 29th and there is still a lot of time. Baseball is a great industry. There is always time to try … the good news is we have time on our side. “
