Yankees explore options at third base, including Cardinals' Nolan Arenado
St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado throws out Washington Nationals' Victor Robles at first base on a groundout in the third inning of a baseball game, Friday, July 29, 2022, in Washington. Credit: AP/Patrick Semansky
DALLAS — Aaron Boone said on Tuesday he did not consider third base a hole needing to be filled this winter for the Yankees.
It was a curious statement considering his organization this week has been exploring external options at the position.
One of those is eight-time All-Star and — more significantly for Boone’s at times defensively lacking club — 10-time Gold Glover Nolan Arenado of the Cardinals.
St. Louis, while perhaps not in full rebuild mode, is making an effort this winter to get younger and Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak spoke here Monday about his intent to trade Arenado, who turns 34 in April and has three years left on his contract.
Though Arenado has a full no-trade clause in his contract, the predominant feeling around the Cardinals is he would be willing to waive it should the destination be the Bronx.
Arenado’s agent, Joel Wolfe, on Tuesday declined to tick off a list of teams the player would be open to going to, though he certainly didn’t eliminate the Yankees.
Anything but.
“Nolan wants to win,” Wolfe said. “I know the Cardinals are motivated to move him, Nolan’s willing to strongly consider it if it’s the right place to go but he’s not going to go just anywhere . . . [he wants] a team that he thinks is going to win now and consistently for the remainder of his career.”
The Yankees, who added to an already strong-looking rotation Tuesday by agreeing with lefthander Max Fried on an eight-year, $218 million deal, currently don’t have a true third baseman on their roster. Their headline trade deadline acquisition last July, Jazz Chisholm Jr., played well enough at third after the deal, though he had never before played the position professionally. The club’s preference this winter is to get a third baseman — Arenado isn’t the only avenue they’re exploring in that regard — and shift Chisholm to his more natural position of second base.
Among the Yankees’ other roster needs is a first baseman and, though there has been recent talk about Arenado being willing to play that position as well, Wolfe said not to make too much of it.
“What that was about is, if would make Mo’s [Mozeliak] job easier to get to the right team, Nolan is more than willing to move around to play first,” Wolfe said. “The way he Arenado] phrased it: ‘I’ll play first.’ Sometimes they [teams] don’t want to ask a player to do that so he wanted to offer and say, ‘I’m happy to play some first, I can move around and play shortstop, I’ll do whatever, but I’m not insulted to go play first and I can win a Gold Glove over there if that’s what it takes.’ ”
It would be highly unlikely the Yankees would trade for Arenado to do anything other than to play him at third as they last had a defensive stud at that position in 2021 with Gio Urshela. And Urshela, as good as he’s generally been defensively, is not in the same league as Arenado, who had a down season offensively in 2024 (.272 batting average with 16 homers and a .719 OPS).
“He’s not demanding a trade or telling me that I have to do it,” Mozeliak told members of the St. Louis media here on Monday of Arenado. “But in the best interests of both sides, I’d like to try and find him some place.”
