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St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado

Brock Selvidge has worked hard to get back on the New York Yankees radar. Could he have instead made himself a viable trade piece? 

The 22-year-old left-handed pitcher, who is the No. 8 prospect in the Yankees farm system, spent the better part of the last year rebuilding his arm after surgery to repair a pinched nerve in his left biceps. Selvidge had just been selected to play in the 2024 All-Star Futures Game when the injury first knocked him out of action, and he would eventually get the procedure done in September. 

“I think it was good to get it out of the way,” Selvidge said. 

Even though it kept him out of the Futures Game and derailed Selvidge’s first season at the Double-A level. A third-round pick in the 2021 draft, Selvidge was 7-6 with a 4.25 ERA in 16 starts for Somerset last season, striking out 83 against 40 walks in 84 2/3 innings, with 78 hits allowed. 

“It taught me a lot; this was my first injury ever,” Selvidge said. “That perseverance got me through, seeing that light at the end of the tunnel. … It sucks that I had to leave the team halfway, but at the end of the day, I had to do what was best for my career at that point.” 

And now, Selvidge’s career could be facing another defining moment. 

Trade Proposal Sends Brock Selvidge, Oswald Peraza to St. Louis for Nolan Arenado

The Yankees have tried a wide assortment of uninspiring options at third base since losing Oswaldo Cabrera to a season-ending ankle injury in early May. As the Yankees have watched their lead in the American League East disappear, they are expected to address the “desperate need” for better production at the corner infield spot before the July 31 trade deadline. 

As MLB insider Russell Dorsey of Yahoo!Sports wrote , “New York has been looking for someone to fill the void at third for a while, and at this point, having tried all the internal options, the fix is going to have to come from outside the organization.” 

One potential fix could supply the Yankees with a 10-time Gold Glove winner, eight-time All-Star and likely future Hall of Famer. In a trade proposal floated by Dave Holcomb of Sports Illustrated, New York would acquire St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado , along with cash considerations to help cover the last two-plus seasons of his contract, in exchange for Selvidge and infielder Oswald Peraza. 

For the Yankees, the idea is simple: plug one of the best defensive third basemen in the history of Major League Baseball into a team that’s already contending for October. Arenado, 34, is having a down season offensively, continuing a trend that started in 2024, but he is still the guy who has won the Rawlings Platinum Glove Award six times and boasts a bat that can produce pop in Aaron Boone’s lineup. Arenado would need to waive his no-trade clause, but he could be persuaded by the chance to play for a World Series contender.

As for the Cardinals, despite currently sitting in the third and final wild card spot, they are a team that needs to focus on 2026 and beyond, rather than worry about possibly earning a short stay in the playoffs. Moving Arenado’s contract would help a club looking to retool around younger, cheaper talent, and Peraza, a former top infield prospect who may benefit from a fresh start, falls nicely into that category.  

More importantly, Selvidge would be the perfect addition to a Cardinals farm system that boasts up-and-coming pitchers like Michael McGreevy Quinn Mathews, Tink Hence and Tekoah Roby.  

Brock Selvidge Returns to Double-A Somerset to Cement Top Prospect Status

Selvidge opened the 2025 season on the injured list with lingering soreness from the biceps surgery, but he put his rehab time to good use, adding a curveball to an impressive arsenal that includes a four-seam fastball, cutter, sweeping slider and changeup. 

“We looked over my numbers and where I was getting miss, where my miss pitches were and what the batters were kind of picking up out of hand,” Selvidge said. “I throw a fastball normally at the top of the zone, so John Kremer, our rehab coordinator, we were kind of playing around with (a curveball) one day and we were like, ‘Oh, it’s pretty good, so let’s try and get it better.’” 

After a few rehab starts, Selvidge has been back with Somerset since the beginning of June, and in four starts, he has a 3.06 ERA with 16 strikeouts in 17.2 innings. Just in time, perhaps, to become an enticing player for Yankees trade partners. 

“This is the time to come out, compete, get wins, and just show what I can do,” Selvidge said. “Last year was cut short, but at the end of the day, that’s just the small step back to take two steps forward. So, I’m looking forward to kind of putting on display all the work that I’ve been putting in in the offseason.” 

Dave Benson Dave Benson is a longtime writer with over three decades of experience in a variety of mediums, including 15 years covering high school, collegiate and minor league sports in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Dave is also a licensed English teacher and spent a few years teaching at the middle school level. More about Dave Benson