Why Washington Nationals Acquiring Nolan Arenado Makes Perfect Sense
The Washington Nationals are heading into the Winter Meetings with a lot of holes to fill on their team.
Coming into the offseason, the Nationals knew that they would have a lot of work to do. While they won 71 games last season, this is a young team that could be ready to burst out of their rebuild as soon as 2025.
However, when the young core is truly ready to compete is a challenging question for the franchise, as it will impact decisions made in terms of free agency and potentially exploring the trade market.
Regardless of when that timeline is, the Nationals do have needs to fill for 2025. With the Winter Meetings right around the corner, addressing the bullpen, starting rotation, third base, and first base will likely all be on the table for the Nationals.
While there are a lot of needs, Washington has plenty of money to spend this offseason to accomplish their goals.
One player who could be an excellent fit for the team in the trade market at third base in Nolan Arenado from the St. Louis Cardinals. Arenado has a long list of career accolades with the Cardinals and the Colorado Rockies. He is a eight-time All-Star, five-time silver slugger, and 10-time gold glove award winner.
Throughout his career at both the plate and in the field, Arenado has been a complete player. However, at 33 years old, father time might be starting to catch up to the talented third baseman.
The slugger saw his OPS drop to the lowest since his rookie season at .719, as the power just wasn’t there in 2024. However, he did still hit .272 with 71 RBIs, as he was still productive at the plate.
Due to him making a little over $50 million for the next three seasons on a St. Louis team that is trying to shed salary and rebuild, his name will be mentioned in trade talks during the Winter Meetings.
For the Nationals, while Arenado might not be a middle of the order hitter anymore after his lack of power last year, he will provide them with an excellent glove at third base and a steady veteran leader. Considering some of the defensive struggles for Washington last year, adding the gold glove award winner would certainly help that.
Even though he isn’t a superstar anymore, he could provide a lot of value for a young Nationals team looking to take a big step forward in 2025. While the price in prospects for him and how much the Cardnials will keep of his salary is important, Arenado makes a ton of sense for the Nationals.
