Even though Rangers fans should be far from confident that disgruntled Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado will end up at third base for Texas when the regular season begins in two months, you cannot stop them from speculating and holding out hope for a trade.
“So you’re telling me there’s a chance…”
Earlier this week, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi wrote a report about Arenado that cited the St. Louis Cardinals and Rangers as the two strongest suitors for a deal and featured the following:
“Sources say the Rockies have told other teams that any Arenado trade must improve their 2020 Major League roster. In other words, they don’t plan to begin a rebuild this close to Spring Training and would insist on at least one Major League player in addition to prospects.
The Rockies are interested in acquiring a potential No. 1 catcher for the long term, and an Arenado deal could help them achieve that objective. Both the Cardinals (Andrew Knizner) and Rangers (Sam Huff) have prospects who match that description.”
The baseline for a deal is laid out there and I think the Rangers have the ammo to compete with the Cardinals.
A potential long term number one catcher, Baseball America’s #99 overall prospect for 2020 Sam Huff, and players that could immediately impact the 2020 Rockies roster.
Major league ready talent with affordable team control is something I see the Rangers being able to offer as well.
Willie Calhoun
While this would sting because the Rangers have already seen his bat show it is way more than capable of producing at the major league level already, it might be the type of talent it would take to headline a deal for Arenado.
Calhoun, the main return in the Yu Darvish deal at the 2017 trade deadline, hit 21 homers in just 83 games with the Rangers in 2019. He had nine in the month of August alone. Plugging in a bat with monster potential over the course of a full season in the majors would be an instant plus for the 2020 Rockies.
Jose Leclerc
Part of the reason why the Rockies have done virtually nothing via free agency or trade this winter is because of the bad return on investment they got on big free agent deals with relievers like Bryan Shaw and Wade Davis in recent years.
While Leclerc was a bit up and down in 2019, he is still an analytics darling and is just 26-years-old. With the team-friendly extension the Rangers signed him to last spring, he is locked down through possibly 2024 with a salary never surpassing $6.25M. While getting a reliever in a deal is never going to electrify your fan base, Leclerc being a part of a deal with Huff + likely considerably more would be something to respect for Rockies fans.
Danny Santana
At 29, Santana’s age might be able to downplay the value of his breakout season with the Rangers last season. With 28 homers and an .857 OPS, Santana was huge for the Texas lineup and his glove was serviceable all over the diamond.
Not a free agent until after the 2021 season, the Rockies could get a bat they can confidently put in the middle of their lineup and not have to worry about a massive salary.
While these may all be pipe dreams, these are still ideas worth exploring. Players like Nolan Arenado do not become available every winter. The Rangers need another huge bat to pair with Joey Gallo to be the new faces of their franchise following the retirement of Adrian Beltre. Texas would be foolish to not try everything reasonably in their power to acquire a talent like Arenado, big contract or not, to excite a fan base who needs more than just a new ballpark to be invested in baseball.
Arenado is very unhappy in Colorado and very available.
From Nolan Arenado to #Rockies fans: pic.twitter.com/dkcwiIBiAM
— Patrick Saunders (@psaundersdp) January 23, 2020
Make it happen, Jon Daniels.
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