Is Red Sox Nolan Arenado’s last-ditch hope for trade?

Is Red Sox Nolan Arenado’s last-ditch hope for trade?

Since the beginning of the 2025 offseason, all indications pointed toward the St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado getting traded. In early December, Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak even admitted that his it was his “intention to try” and move the 33-year-old third baseman due to financial reasons.

Arenado, who owns a full no-trade clause, is owed $74 million of the next three seasons, though $10 million is covered by the Rockies with plenty of deferrments through 2041, according to Spotrac. Given the state of the franchise, the Cardinals aren’t operating with the budget for keeping Arenado. But as time continues to tick, the likelihood of keeping Arenado increases with little-to-no-market.

According to a recent report from The Athletic’s Katie Woo, one AL East may be the Cardinals’ last-ditch hope to keeping the veteran corner infielder.

“While several teams inquired about Arenado in early December, the number of Arenado’s preferred destinations is small and it’s unclear if any of those teams are interested,” Woo’s report read. “Multiple league sources indicate the Red Sox represent Arenado’s last chance to get dealt before the 2025 season. If Boston misses on Bregman, it could pivot to trading for Arenado. However, that move likely would be contingent on moving Rafael Devers to first base (though Arenado is willing to switch positions, he remains the stronger third baseman of the two) and possibly trading Triston Casas. It is unclear if that is a scenario the Red Sox would consider. It is also unclear if Boston would be willing to take on most of Arenado’s salary.

“The alternative reality? Arenado remains in St. Louis for at least the first half of the season, and the Cardinals revisit his market ahead of the trade deadline. This certainly would not be an ideal situation for either party. Not only would the Cardinals likely have to pivot to trading other players, but also Arenado’s presence at third base would create an infield logjam.”

The Red Sox have been linked to Bregman all offseason, with the possibility of moving him to second base if the team retained both Triston Casas and Masataka Yoshida. Arenado isn’t as positionally versatile as Bregman, so that wouldn’t be a possibility.

Trading Casas for Arenado, however, would be malpractice. He was limited to 63 games due to injury last season, but over Casas’ last two seasons (745 plate appearances), he slashed .256/.357/.480 with 37 home runs and 97 RBIs. He’s shown flashes of being one of the best left-handed hitting first basemen in MLB and hasn’t come close to scratching his prime yet.

Arenado’s a sure-fire leader–which Boston needs–but his bat is also declining. He’s still an elite defender, but he’s not worth trading Casas for and moving Devers to 1B. Boston could either trade a few mid-to-lower level prospects and eat most of his money or try its best to get off (some) of Yoshida’s money in any Arenado swap. Trading Casas wouldn’t make sense, even if that’s the initial asking price from Mozeliak.

Triston Casas wants to remain with Red Sox ‘forever’

Boston reportedly tried to trade Casas once this offseason, which is disconcerting. Selling low on one of your best young hitters for an older, declining third baseman isn’t good process. We are not privy to the conversations of Mozeliak’s asking price, but if that’s what it is, Bregman for $200 million is a much better deal–even if it comes at the expense of moving rising prospect Kristian Campbell to the outfield for at least one season.

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