Does Trading for Veteran Third Baseman Make Sense To Replace Houston Astros Legend?

The Houston Astros have been looking at Plane Bs in all shapes and sizes, but does one oft-mentioned name make sense?

Sep 25, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third base Nolan Arenado (28) reacts in the third inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros are likely to lose their long time third baseman in Alex Bregman to free agency this offseason, which will lead to a huge hole needing to be filled on their roster.

That's easier said than done, especially given all that Bregman did for the franchise.

And since it seems like his asking price continues to increase, it could reach a figure the Astros might not want to pay.

If that's the case, they might have to look elsewhere for new options at third, and there has been one common name that's come up in terms of trade talks.

The St. Louis Cardinals appear to be open moving longtime veteran Nolan Arenado as his play has begun to decline over the past couple seasons even though two years ago, he finished third in MVP voting and totaled over seven in bWAR.

Since then, his offense has taken a bit of a dive, and 10-time Gold Glove winner has had two seasons with an OPS under .800.

In 2024, Arenado hit just 16 home runs, his fewest total since his rookie season. It was also the first time since 2015 in which he did not make the All-Star team.

He's owed $52 million over the next three years before he hits free agency, and while that's not too expensive in terms of basic money, his output over the past couple of years makes paying that much a bit of a stretch.

Not only are his numbers on the surface declining, but the one's under the hood don't look so great either.

According to Baseball Savant, his average exit velocity of 86.3% was in the nine percentile, his barrel rate of 3.2% was in the sixth, and his hard rate of 31.6% was in the 12th.

This comes just two years after all three were closer to the 50th percentile range.

Given all of these factors of decline, it's a pretty hard sell for Arenado being the third baseman of the future in Houston.

While the Crawford Boxes may provide him some support, the Astros need to look elsewhere for a replacement.

One extremely intriguing option would be to bring in free agent Willy Adames.

While he would need to change positions from shortstop to third, he has expressed he would be willing to do so. And as one of the better power hitting middle infielders over the last few seasons, he would be a perfect fit.

Alec Bohm has been brought up in trade talks, and he would certainly make more sense than Arenado since he's coming off of a breakout season in 2024.

Houston has a long road ahead of them this offseason, and it starts with figuring out their corner infield spots.