The New York Yankees have been engaged in a cat-and-mouse game for several months now.
Though New York clearly needs a third baseman, they’re not tipping their interest in St. Louis Cardinals star Nolan Arenado. The 10-time Gold Glover has wanted out of St. Louis for months, and the Cardinals have clearly been willing to trade him, but so far, the domino hasn’t fallen.
Arenado was nearly traded to the Houston Astros in December, but he exercised his no-trade clause to kill that deal. Plus, there was the very real possibility he would have been sent to the Boston Red Sox, but Alex Bregman choosing Boston eliminated that possibility.
Yet as New York continues to roll with the Oswaldo Cabrera-Oswald Peraza platoon at third base, one top baseball insider speculates that the Yankees could still get involved.
On Monday, ESPN’s Buster Olney wrote that “a Nolan Arenado trade could still be possible” and mentioned the Yankees among the prospective suitors for the 34-year-old future Hall of Famer.
“Conditions are emerging to foster this possibility, if Arenado waives his no-trade clause and if the Cardinals are willing to deal him,” Olney wrote. “Normally, it’s not easy to move a position player with money attached at midseason, but contenders could be interested in acquiring the eight-time All-Star third baseman.
“The Yankees will soon try DJ LeMahieu in their ongoing attempt to fill the (third-base) position.”
Olney also noted that the Cardinals currently owe Arenado about $61 million between now and the end of his contract in 2027. The Yankees might not want to pay all of that, but the Cardinals could likely be convinced to take on a chunk of money, as they were willing to do before the deal with the Astros was nixed.
After two hits and a home run on Sunday, Arenado’s season OPS is back up to .778, and he’s been worth 1.2 bWAR to this point, which is better than all but three of the Yankees’ position players.
Will the deal end up going down? There could certainly be other teams interested, but frankly, the Yankees have made the most sense for a long time now.
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