Nolan Arenado
Outside of Kris Bryant’s notable connections to Philly, the Phillies in general have a glaring hole when it comes to the third base position. Longtime starter Maikel Franco left this offseason, late season fill in Brad Miller remains a free agent, and the Phils’ front office hasn’t been linked to any serious replacements. As of right now, super utility man Scott Kingery appears to be the plug in when it comes to the hot corner.
In the recent weeks, trade rumors have begun picking up serious traction when it comes to Nolan Arenado of the Colorado Rockies. This is due to an “opt out clause” in his contract which is primed to hit following the 2021 season. When Arenado signed his $260 million dollar extension last offseason, he made it clear to the Colorado front office that he would be exercising said opt out clause if the Rockies weren’t serious contenders. After a sub-.500 season in 2019, it appears Arenado’s time in a Rockies uniform are limited.
Arenado is an appealing situation due to his price not necessarily being as high as it should be. Despite being widely held as one of the best third basemen in all of baseball (if not THE best), Arenado’s public desire to be on a contender is lowering his trade value. The Rockies have little leverage when it comes to making trade demands.
Arenado has won seven straight Golden Gloves, four career Silver Sluggers, been selected to five consecutive All-Star games, received MVP votes in his last five seasons, and has won three straight Platinum Gloves.
Outside of arguably being the best defensive third baseman in all of baseball, Arenado also possesses one of the best “bats” in the business. Over the last five seasons Nolan has averaged 124 RBIs and 40 HRs per year. His career .295 batting average also consistently ranks towards the top of the league among 3B.