Nolan Arenado is on the trade block, the Yankees have reportedly never seriously pursued him, and they also aren’t in a financial situation where adding his contract makes much sense.
MLB: St. Louis Cardinals at Philadelphia Phillies May 31, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third base Nolan Arenado (28) hits a home run during the seventh inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
John Denton of MLB.com reported last night that talks between the Cardinals and Yankees were expected to intensify after Alex Bregman signed with the Red Sox. Not only does this fail to pass the sniff test, but trusted NY reporters such as Jack Curry and Andy Martino deny that the team intends to add him to the roster.
The Yankees need an infielder as we sit a week away from Opening Day, but despite the Bombers’ situation, they should steer clear of trading for Arenado barring an offer they cannot refuse.
Yankees Shouldn’t Hurt Their Roster Due to An Infield Crisis
Would Nolan Arenado be better than either DJ LeMahieu or Oswaldo Cabrera next season? Yes, he’s a better defensive player than both and brings with him some average to above-average offensive projections.
That doesn’t make the upgrade worth the $17.3 million the Yankees would pay annually from 2025-2027, which could prevent the team from making a better addition in the infield down the line. They’re already paying DJ LeMahieu $15 million a year, and Arenado’s declining offensive skills make him a clear red flag for any organization. Yankee Stadium is also not the ballpark that you can project Arenado to dominate at, with his swing not fitting the dimensions at all.
Granted, Nolan Arenado would have hit fewer home runs playing all of his games at Busch Stadium (213) compared to Yankee Stadium (212) across his MLB career, but the bat still wouldn’t play well here. Add onto that a massive decrease in Barrel% from 2023 to 2024, and you have a player who could go from a 3.1 fWAR season and end up posting a 1-1.5 WAR season.
The problem isn’t even that the Yankees would be paying more to Nolan Arenado than they probably should, it’s that it would affect their aggressiveness in bidding for upgrades at the deadline or next offseason.
Hal Steinbrenner having to spend more on the team isn’t a problem that should concern the fanbase, but the things he won’t approve of are what we worry about. We’ve seen them roll into a season with Josh Donaldson as the unquestioned starter despite a poor season that indicated he was done. Would the Yankees go into 2026 with Nolan Arenado as their starter even if he posted a 1.5 fWAR and 89 wRC+ in 2025?
If the Yankees were willing to bench Nolan Arenado and cut ties at the trade deadline if his performance called for it, then I would view this as a rich team just spending over their mistakes. That’s also why I don’t even think they’re going to actually pursue Nolan Arenado; when have they shown the willingness to pay top dollar to land an infielder over the past few weeks?
This entire conversation feels moot because I believe they won’t seriously entertain a deal, but what if that were to shockingly change? Everyone has their price; what would take for me to feel good about a Nolan Arenado trade?
I would like the Yankees to acquire Ryan Helsley in this deal. The Cardinals’ closer is in his final year of arbitration and could fetch the Cardinals some prospects in return that they wouldn’t get by just trading away Nolan Arenado. It gives the Yankees one of the 10 best relievers in the game, as Helsley was fourth among MLB relievers in fWAR (2.3) and had a 2.04 ERA across 65 appearances in 2024.
Owed $8.2 million in 2025, he would be another expense on the Yankees’ plate, but his 128 Stuff+ since 2022 would rank only behind Emmanuel Clase, Pete Fairbanks, and Felix Bautista among qualified relievers. He would create a fearsome trio between himself, Devin Williams, and Luke Weaver, with Aaron Boone having a multitude of options to call upon and secure a win in late-game scenarios.
From there you hope that Nolan Arenado is able to maintain his 2024, as a 3.1 fWAR would be an upgrade over what Gleyber Torres was last year, and then you might win a lot of games. The problem is that the Yankees probably aren’t getting Ryan Helsley as a sweetener because he costs even more money, that’s something that even moving Marcus Stroman may not be able to fix.
It just doesn’t seem like the standards for me to like this trade would be met and the Yankees don’t seem to be in a spending mood. I will keep either doubting it will actually happen or continue to warn the organization against such a trade.
