The Piece the A's Need is with the St. Louis Cardinals

Jason Burke | Dec 1, 2024

Feb 26, 2021; Jupiter, Florida, USA; A general view of the St. Louis Cardinals logo on the stadium at Roger Dean Stadium during spring training workouts. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images / Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images

There's a report floating around that St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado is willing to play first base, potentially with a new team, and tackle the hot corner a bit less often. The A's are looking for a few things this winter, including a third baseman and an upgrade on defense around the diamond. For over a decade, Arenado has been synonymous with defense.

Now entering his age 34 season, the Cardinals could be looking to move him and his contract in what is being viewed as a reset year in 2025 for the Red Birds. For a number of reasons, the A's should be extremely interested.

Chief among them is that he's a ten-time Gold Glove winner at third base, and with the team targeting more ground ball pitchers as the franchise heads to Sacramento, making sure that the defense is strong is going to be important. To be fair, while he has not won the Gold Glove award the past two seasons, he still ranked third in Outs Above Average with nine, and eighth in Defensive Runs Saved with six in 2024. He's still plenty above league average, which would be a huge boost to the A's defense.

There are some concerns about his bat nationally, being that he hasn't been the seven-WAR version of himself the past two seasons, but he still managed to accrue a three-win campaign in 2024 for his overall game, which is roughly the production that JJ Bleday provided last year.

There are two reasons to be skeptical of a deal coming to pass, but they're kind of molded into one, where one doesn't happen without the other. The first potential issue would be how Arenado, a veteran with loads of experience as one of the best players in baseball for a decade would gel with his new club, which is filled with a decent amount of pre-arb players, though a team on the rise. Of course playing in a minor-league facility in Sacramento would also play a role here.

The second potential issue here is that Arenado has a no-trade clause, so he could just say he doesn't want to play for the A's and that's all it takes, regardless of what deal has been worked out. That said, if he okayed the trade, that would alleviate some of the concern with him wanting to be in Sacramento. While he's from California, he grew up south of Anaheim, so the Sacramento connection isn't something the A's could lean on here.

One way that the A's may be able to at least leave the door open would be to cater to him. If he wants to split time between the corners, then he'll be given that leeway to get some time at first, though the team's preference would likely be to have him at third more often. While Tyler Soderstrom is the presumed first baseman for the club, he's still young and developing, so his production isn't a guarantee. Plus, Arenado could play on days where Soderstrom gets a rest.

In terms of his contract, it's one of the larger ones that the A's could conceivably look to add to increase their payroll and also help the roster. Arenado is owed $32 million in 2025, with $5 million of that being paid by the Colorado Rockies. St. Louis would presumably want to pay down some of that total as well to limit the amoung of prospect capital they'd have to use to move this contract. It's a reset year, after all.

In 2026 he will be owed $27 million ($5 million paid by Colorado), and in the final year of his deal in 2027, he'll be owed $15 million. The A's have quite a bit of space between where their payroll is and the $100 million mark it's supposed to end up at, so adding a contract like Arenado wouldn't be too much of an ask this offseason.

Plus, how often have the A's had a player of Arenado's caliber and star power on their roster? From the business side of things, this would also make a lot of sense to drub up interest in the team in a new market.

This is a trade that's not necessarily likely to happen, but it would make a lot of sense for both sides to explore the possibility.