St. Louis Cardinals infielder Nolan Arenado has dominated headlines for the last few months as one of the bigger names on the trade market, but his contract has made him a tough player to move.
Arenado has a no-trade clause and a lot of money left on his deal, but his impressive performance to begin this season might cause the Cardinals to get aggressive at trading him away.
Bleacher Report’s Tim Kelly recently predicted Arenado would waive his no-trade clause for a deal to the New York Yankees this season.
“Arenado does have a pair of seasons remaining on the eight-year, $260 million deal that he signed with the Colorado Rockies,” Kelly wrote. “But while he’ll count $25.55 million against the luxury-tax threshold in 2026 and 2027, his deal is backloaded. Arenado will make a more modest $31 million for his age-35 and -36 seasons.
“It seems like all great Rockies eventually end up spending time with the Yankees, and Arenado would give New York an upgrade over the .705 OPS that Oswaldo Cabrera has produced. This deal would also reunite him with Paul Goldschmidt, as the Yankees try to make a deep playoff run for the second time in as many seasons.”
The Yankees are likely the best fit in the entire league. They need a third baseman and are seemingly hyper-aggressive to add talent to chase a World Series title. Pairing Arenado with his former Cardinals teammate Paul Goldschmidt might work wonders for the Yankees.
The issue, obviously, is Arenado’s no-trade clause.
If he agrees to waive his no-trade clause for a deal to the Yankees, a trade seemingly could come to fruition in the matter of days.