A rumor doesn’t always mean something will happen in Major League Baseball. But the rumors sure are flying around the Boston Red Sox and third baseman Nolan Arenado.
With his St. Louis Cardinals heading for a mini-rebuild, Arenado’s name has been all over trade discussions this winter. He already turned down one potential trade to the Houston Astros, but he wouldn’t likely do so if the Red Sox were involved.
In fact, according to a Sunday report from Chris Cotillo and Sean McAdam of MassLive, the Red Sox would be one of Arenado’s top preferred destinations. And sure, Arenado’s 2024 season wasn’t very exciting offensively (101 OPS+), but a 10-time Gold Glove defender is always a useful thing to have.
What would it take, though, for the Red Sox to land Arenado? Content creator Robbie Hyde attempted to answer that question on Sunday.
In a mock trade package, Hyde sent Arenado and $15 million in cash to Boston in exchange for Blaze Jordan, the Red Sox’s No. 22 prospect per MLB.com.
“This is dependent on what happens with Alex Bregman, but I do think in he end, he’s going to sign with the Detroit Tigers,” Hyde said.
“I think Arenado at Fenway Park would be a perfect fit. It kind of reminds me of Mike Lowell, (who) was terrible back in 2005 for the Marlins, went to the Red Sox back in ’06 and got his career back on track.”
Trading for Arenado, of course, would necessitate moving Rafael Devers off first base, which brings the Red Sox back to one of the central conundrums of their offseason–trading either Triston Casas or Masataka Yoshida.
Moving Casas would, of course, be easier, but that’s because he has a higher upside than Yoshida, so he’s also more likely to make them regret the move.
There’s an argument to be made that the Red Sox would be better off not meddling than moving Casas in favor of Arenado. But the only argument that counts is happening inside Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow’s brain.
