The Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals appear to be staring each other down as spring training begins across Major League Baseball.
St. Louis has spent all offseason hoping to trade future Hall of Fame third baseman Nolan Arenado, but they’ve yet to have success. And though he may not be the hitter he once was, he could still be a valuable right-handed presence in the Red Sox lineup.
Throughout the offseason, there have been moments where it seemed like the two sides were either close to a deal or had forgotten about the possibility altogether. It’s hard to pinpoint where we currently are on that spectrum, but there’s no doubt the possibility is still present.
On Wednesday, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reported that Boston and St. Louis currently remain engaged on a potential Arenado trade, though a deal is not necessarily imminent.
Throughout this week, various social media accounts have claimed to have sources that said the framework of a deal between the Red Sox and Cardinals was in place. Speier refuted that notion in his reporting on Wednesday, but reported that the discussion between the two sides “has legs.”
“As of Tuesday night, there wasn’t an agreement on the parameters of a trade,” Speier wrote. “There are conversations about how much of the remaining $64 million on Arenado’s contract over the next three years ($74 million in salary, minus $10 million owed by the Rockies) would be covered by St. Louis in a deal whose primary appeal to the Cardinals would be salary relief, with modest prospect return.”
“That said, those conversations remain alive. Early in the offseason, Arenado — who has the right to veto a trade, a power he exercised to quash a deal that would have sent him to Houston in mid-December — made clear to the Cardinals that he’d accept a trade to Boston.”
Though the Red Sox would have to send some sort of prospect capital back to the Cardinals, the money is clearly all that matters here. The Red sox may want half or more of that $64 million paid down, and ESPN’s Jeff Passan indicated Tuesday that whatever they’re looking for, they won’t likely budge from.
As things stand, the Red Sox look to have lots of leverage in the Arenado sweepstakes. They could be the Cardinals’ only realistic option to get the eight-time All-Star off their payroll. But fans won’t be happy if they let the fear of making a bad deal stop them from making any deal at all.
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