Rockies want to engage with New York Mets on Nolan Arenado (Report)

The Rockies, who are looking to be rid of Nolan Arenado’s mammoth contract, are looking to the New York Mets as a potential trade partner.

Will Steve Cohen’s New York Mets add superstar third baseman Nolan Arenado this offseason? It’s become clear for over a year that the Colorado Rockies have been looking to move Arenado and his giant contract.

According to Jon Morosi of MLB Network, they envision the Mets as a potential landing spot and are attempting to engage them in trade talks for him.

Nolan to the Big ??@jonmorosi weighs in on the reported trade talks surrounding #Rockies superstar Nolan Arenado. #MLBNHotStove pic.twitter.com/yj3IWGL9WB

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) December 16, 2020

“The team that I am watching very carefully — that I was told even this week is the team the Rockies want to engage with — is the New York Mets”, Morosi said.

Arenado is entering his age 30 season and is still owed $199 million on the remaining six years of his contract. He does have a full no-trade clause, which he will have to waive in order to be moved. It’s also worth mentioning that Arenado can opt-out of his current deal after this season.

Morosi suggested that the Mets could ship the likes of Robinson Cano (who is owed quite a bit of money), Brandon Nimmo, and a prospect to Colorado in exchange.

The Mets do have a crowded infield and lineup, in general, but Arenado, who has been with the Rockies his entire career, is widely considered to be the best third baseman in the league.

They’ll bench players if they have to in order to make room for him. In eight seasons so far, Arenado has slashed .293/.349/.541 with an .890 OPS, 120 OPS+, 235 home runs, 760 RBIs, 15 K%, .299 BABIP, .372 wOBA, 118 wRC+, and 32.2 WAR.

He’s also an excellent defender, boasting 120 DRS and 56.4 UZR on his career.

Arenado has been a Gold Glover every year of his career, a Silver Slugger four times, an All-Star five times, and finished top-8 in NL MVP voting five times.

He doesn’t miss much time — he led the NL in games in 2016 with 160. He’s also led the NL in doubles once, home runs three times, and total bases once, and has led the entire league in RBIs twice.

The case against Arenado playing for a team other than Colorado is that numbers tend to be inflated due to playing in the hitter-friendly Coors Field.

Arenado’s away splits aren’t as glamorous as his home stats. On the road he’s slashed .263/.322/.471 with a .793 OPS, 99 home runs, 299 RBIs, 16.3 K%, .274 BABIP, .334 wOBA, and 108 wRC+.

This is something worth noting, but it’s also difficult to imagine one of the best third baseman in the league regressing substantially after moving teams.

It still isn’t clear if the Mets themselves are interested in entertaining such a trade, and all eyes will be on Cohen and company to see how they’ll react.