MLB.com’s John Denton reported last month that the Red Sox, Mets, Phillies, Padres, Dodgers and Angels were six of those teams (and perhaps the only six teams) Nolan Arenado If the Cardinals reach an acceptable exchange with any of those clubs, he’s willing to waive no trade protection to join. Four weeks after the initial report, Boston remains Arenado’s “preferred destination,” according to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo and Sean McAdam. However, it’s unclear whether the Red Sox and Cardinals are close to an agreement or if the Red Sox are particularly motivated to bring Arenado to Bientown.
Acquiring Arenado would fill several major needs on Boston’s offseason shopping list. chief baseball official Craig Breslow It was reiterated earlier this week that the Red Sox are looking to add “The right-handed bat comes out of the middle of the lineup.,” considering there are a lot of left-handed hitters on the team. Bringing one of the best defensive third basemen ever to Fenway Park will immediately help Boston’s subpar infield defense, and Arenado will even be paired with His best friend reunites with former Rockies teammate Trevor Storey.
Of course, one initial hurdle is that the Red Sox already have a star third baseman. Raphael Devers. While Arenado has said he’s willing to change positions under the right circumstances, and Devers’ agent made it clear in November that his client would remain at third base, it’s hard to believe Arenado would respect Dever’s position at third base. Sri Lanka’s much weaker outfielder. If a trade does occur, Devers could become the new first baseman or DH, though that would create other conflicts Triston Casas and Masataka Yoshida.
However, both players have been mentioned in trade talks this winter, and even in some of the same trade talks. Casas is the more valuable trade asset of the two, and Breslow said “Of course we won’t buy it,“That certainly doesn’t mean Casas is off limits. In fact, Cotillo and McAdam wrote, “The industry continues to believe the Red Sox are still willing to trade Casas, possibly for younger pitchers to facilitate other roster adjustments.”
The Red Sox may want to trade Casas before making any other moves, as they would have less leverage in a Casas trade if the Red Sox create a positional logjam beforehand. Trading Casas purely as a tool to clear cap space is certainly not Breslow’s preference, which is why the aforementioned attempt to tie Yoshida and Casas together remains part of the effort Luis Castillo From Seattle to Boston.
Salary is also a major aspect of Arenado’s deal, as the third baseman is owed $74MM over the three seasons remaining on his contract. Arenado’s contract is reportedly currently worth $60MM between deferred payments and the $10MM the Rockies paid. The Cardinals’ main motivation for trading Arenado was naturally to move as much money as possible, and the proposed deal with the Astros that Arenado blocked would have cost Houston $45MM (per Katie Woo and (according to Chandler Roman)) or $60MM for $59MM (per ESPN’s Jeff Passan).
Theoretically, the Red Sox could absorb the entire contract and still stay under the $241MM luxury tax threshold, as RosterResource estimates Boston’s current tax figure is just under $212MM. It’s unclear exactly how much salary cap Breslow has allocated this winter, and while the Red Sox have made offers to several top free agents, their spending so far has been fairly limited. The Red Sox might be able to convince the Cardinals to take the majority of Arenado’s salary (or at least a figure closer to $45MM) if they can offer a better prospect in return. Chaimblum’s involvement in this speculative trade is an interesting one, as the incoming St. Louis president of baseball operations has extensive knowledge of Boston’s farm system due to his past role as the Red Sox’s chief budget officer.
The overall cost of trading Arenado will be less than signing it Alex Bregmananother top third baseman still on Boston’s radar. That said, it’s no secret that the Red Sox are still in contention for Bregman, who has some notable links to the Red Sox as a manager Alex Cora (from their days together in Houston) and his old friend Walker Buehlerwho signed with the Red Sox just before Christmas. Buehler recently told Cotillo and other reporters that even in his brief time in a Red Sox uniform, “I’ve definitely spread the word [Bregman] come to boston”.
Turning to the Red Sox’s other targets, it’s unclear whether Boston is still one of the teams being considered. Riki Saaki. Earlier this week, Sasaki’s agent Joel Wolf gave reporters an update on his client’s search for a major league team, but gave no indication that the right-hander had completed in-person meetings with interested clubs .
The Red Sox are not one of seven teams known to have spoken with Sasaki, and word has yet to come out whether a meeting has been scheduled or may have taken place since Wolfe’s last reporter’s interview. As of yesterday, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reported that the Red Sox had not yet “They were told they were no longer involved” in Sasaki’s campaign for service, so the situation remains unresolved.
