MLB Rumors: The Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals have talked about trading for Nolan Arenado.
The Boston Red Sox should be in the running for the American League playoffs after their offseason signings. To strengthen their rotation, they signed Walker Buehler and acquired Garrett Crochet. However, they have needed a boost to their offensive, particularly in the infield. Because of his time spent in Houston alongside Alex Cora, Alex Bregman has been the subject of long-running rumors. However, according to Jon Morosi of MLB Network, the Red Sox and Cardinals have talked about trading for Nolan Arenado.
"A source claims that the Red Sox and Cardinals have recently communicated regarding Nolan Arenado," Morosi wrote on social media. He mentions a link between Boston and St. Louis and claims that Bregman would be impacted if the transaction proceeds.
Noteworthy is the fact that Boston's prospects are well-known to Cardinals executive Chaim Bloom. Bloom served as Boston's chief baseball officer from 2020 to 2023 and is currently an advisor for St. Louis.
For Crochet, the Red Sox recently traded four of their top prospects to the Chicago White Sox. However, there are still diamonds in the process that Bloom helped construct. He must begin replenishing the Cardinals' shoddy pipeline in order to begin their rebuild.
The Red Sox's infield and lineup would benefit from making a large deal for Arenado. Would Bregman, however, fit in better?
Should Alex Bregman or Nolan Arenado be added by the Red Sox?
This offseason, the Red Sox are pursuing two third basemen who could be inducted into the Hall of Fame. However, Rafael Devers, who is contracted through 2034, is already one of those. Since he is their franchise player, neither player will be able to take him off the hot corner. Bregman and Arenado have both stated that they might be open to switching to second base for a different team. Boston doesn't have any MLB second basemen, which is beneficial for them.
The Red Sox must now choose between signing Bregman and forgoing assets in exchange for Arenado's three years. They have a relatively youthful core around Devers, and they should continue to produce MLB starters in their pipeline. Bregman has ties to Cora and is three years older than Arenado. He ought to be the early leader in this race just based on that.
However, Bregman has remained available well into the winter because of the contract negotiations. According to early reports, he planned to sign a contract worth $350 million, similar to what Manny Machado signed with the Padres. Teams, however, didn't react to that. The Red Sox could pay him for seven years and get more peak years out of him than Arenado if they could acquire him at a fair cap cost.
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