Colorado Rockies: What a Nolan Arenado trade to the Yankees could look like

SNY’s Andy Martino reported yesterday that we shouldn’t sleep on the Yankees on acquiring Nolan Arenado from the Colorado Rockies so, today, we’ll look at what the Yankees could offer the Colorado Rockies in a trade.

Before you get all worked up, it’s a very distinct possibility that the Colorado Rockies will not be able to resign Nolan Arenado. He’ll demand well over $30 million per season (he’s already asking for $30 million in arbitration for 2019) and at least a seven year contract, likely putting him in the $250 million + territory. With a slew of bad free agent signings (and extensions) put out by Jeff Bridich and company the past few offseasons, the Rockies will likely not be able to afford it.

At least in my opinion, they would not be doing their due diligence if they didn’t at least explore the trade market for him (and all their players, in general, as, for me at least, there is no such thing as an untouchable player). After all, they’d at least get something more if they traded him now compared to let him go in free agency, where they’d get a low first or high second round draft pick after extending him a qualifying offer (which he would not accept as it would be a pay cut and only for one season).

So, with out further ado, let’s look at what a deal with the Yankees could look like.

The one person who I’d bet would definitely be in the deal is the Yankees third baseman Miguel Andujar. The Rockies would be getting five years of control on Andujar and he would replace Arenado at third. Last season, in his rookie season, in 149 games, he hit .297/.328/.527 with 27 home runs, 92 RBI, 47 doubles, and he came in 2nd in the AL Rookie of the Year voting.

The main thing that the Rockies would lose in acquiring Andujar is a Gold Glove defender at third base as Andujar had a mind boggling -25 Defensive Runs Saved at third base last year (Arenado had a down year last year and still had 5 DRS). That -25 number put him tied for fourth worst in the entire sport last year (Charlie Blackmon was the in center field for the Rockies with -28 DRS, hence, why he will likely move to a corner outfield spot in 2019).

Since he just finished his rookie season, his defense has plenty of time to get better. Plus, if he were to come to Denver, he would have Trevor Story directly to his left, who is a plus defender at short (16 DRS in the past 3 seasons).

The Yankees, as a result of acquiring Arenado, would not have a spot for him anyways so it only makes sense that he would be in a deal.

Here are some other major league/major league ready options that the Rockies could look into acquiring.

Gleyber Torres

He was excellent at second base and shortstop for the Yankees in his rookie season last year. In 123 games, he was an All-Star and came in third in AL Rookie of the Year voting. He hit .271/.340/.480 with 24 home runs, 77 RBI, and an OPS+ of 118.

As a prospect, he was consistently in the top 50 prospects, with the highest ranking coming from Baseball Prospectus last season, as he was ranked as their 3rd best prospect. For the Rockies, he would play second base and he would probably hit at the top of the lineup or hit 6th or 7th.

Greg Bird

He has been injured the past few seasons and when he has played, he hasn’t been that good (176 games in parts of three seasons (he completely missed the 2016 season) with a .214/.302/.434 slash line).

However, he could be a change of scenery candidate.

His offensive numbers should be better in Denver and plus, he is from Colorado as he graduated from Grandview High School in Aurora, which is about 25 miles away from Coors Field.

Clint Frazier

Frazier has been a highly ranked outfield prospect when in the Indians and Yankees system (as high as the 13th best prospect, according to Baseball America) who has had some injury issues in the past three seasons (he hasn’t played more than 119 games in the past three seasons).

With the Yankees acquisition of Giancarlo Stanton, they already have a crowded outfield with him, Aaron Judge, Brett Gardner, and Aaron Hicks. As a result, he doesn’t have a clear spot in either the Yankees outfield or major league roster. The Rockies would have five years of control on him (if they immediately put him in the majors).

They could put him in the outfield with David Dahl and Charlie Blackmon. As a result, Ian Desmond would be on the bench or sent to another team in another trade. That team could even the Yankees, as he could help them at shortstop while Didi Gregorius is out and Troy Tulowitzki is recovering from injuries in Spring Training, as he often has been throughout his career and he could also help at first base, considering that the Yankees don’t have a clear cut first baseman.

If they think that he’s not completely ready for the major leagues yet, they could send him to Triple-A Albuquerque for a weeks or months until he is ready but he should be ready by mid-2019 at the latest.

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Final Thoughts

A few things should be noted. Martino’s report doesn’t make it seem like there are extensive talks between the two teams right now and it doesn’t seem there is anything that is close on a deal. It should also be noted that the Yankees would only get one year of control for Arenado but he could put them over the top against the Red Sox.

However, for a deal, I think that the Rockies should get Andujar, Frazier, Bird, and one of the top prospects that we mentioned. Maybe Torres could be in there or even another major league option (e.g. Sonny Gray or one of their outfielders) the they could flip to another team (like the Brewers, in the case of Gray, as they need some starting pitching).

The Rockies could even look to trade one of their current players in a deal to also help the team.

Obviously, it all depends on what kind of deal the Rockies would get in return for Arenado but they should do their due diligence and if they get a deal that helps them both at the major league level and at the minor league level (particularly at the high minor league level), they should not be afraid to pull the trigger on a deal.