Red Sox Interested in Nolan Arenado and again discussing a trade for third Baseman

On Tuesday, Craig Breslow suggested that Red Sox remain “hopeful” to add a right hand to the lineup. A potential solution that has legs: a trade for third Baseman Nolan Arenado.

After a peak season of on-again, off-again conversations, the cardinals and rode sox- As mlb.com first reported -Dispose of a deal that may bring the eight-time all-star to Boston, according to a major league source.

From Tuesday night there was no deal on the parameters of a trade. There are conversations about how much of the remaining $ 64 million on Arenado’s contract in the next three years ($ 74 million in salary, minus $ 10 million caused by Rockies) would be covered by St. Louis in an appointment whose primary appeal to the Cardinals would be salary relief with modest view return.

That said, these conversations remain alive. Early in high season, Arenado made has the right to veto a trade, a power he exercised to interrupt an appointment that would have sent him to Houston in mid-December-for the Cardinals he would accept a Trade to Boston.

Arenado, finished in the Top 10 in the National League MVP, which votes six times (five equal years with Rockies from 2015-19, then again with the Cardinals in 2022), fought in its age-33 season in 2024 and hit .272 / .325/.394 with a 101 ops+.

While his strike frequency remained extremely low (14.5 percent), his quality of contact fell with a career-low 32 percent hard hit rate that contributed to a career-low Slugging brand. And while Arenado has been a strength against Lefthanders throughout his career, 2024 marked the second year in a row he fought against Southpaws, with a .235/.266/.379 line.

It also marked the second equal year when Arenado life .285/.342/.515 Hitter with a 120 OPS+executed at about an offensive level in the league.

Still, some strengths remained clear, among them the ability to put the ball into play and pull it in the air to the left field, which would play particularly well on Fenway.

In 13 career games on Fenway, Arenado has six homers while hitting 0.333/.362/.704.

“He has told me he loves to come from there and feel the energy,” said Red Sox Shortstop Trevor Story, who played with Arenado for five seasons in Colorado, last month. “Obviously, anyone’s justice who pulls the ball into the air is a good profile for Fenway. And that’s what he does with the best of them. “

Arenado, considered one of the best defensive third Basemen in history, remained excellent in the field last year. Statcast classified 10-time Gold Glover as hosted seven outs above average, a remarkable skill in view of SOX’s Porous Infield defense last year.

Arenado and free agent Alex Bregman remain opportunities as Red Sox continues their efforts to acquire a righteous bat. But if Bregman continues to endure an agreement on six or more years, he is unlikely to end up in Boston, even if he represents a cleaner list.

Red Sox would probably switch Bregman to the second base so they could leave Rafael Devers on the third base, Triston Casas to begin with and Masataka Yoshida as a DH. If the SOX trade for Arenado would probably mean changing development to First and DH, with Yoshida’s watch list fits (at a time when he is due to $ 55.8 million over the next three years).

Alex Speier can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @Atexspeier.