Colorado Rockies: Is Nolan Arenado a fit with the Detroit Tigers?

On Wednesday, our colleagues at Motor City Bengals (FanSided’s Detroit Tigers site) looked into the possible match between the Colorado Rockies and the Detroit Tigers on a trade for third baseman Nolan Arenado.

There have been and will be plenty of trade rumors surrounding the Colorado Rockies and their third baseman Nolan Arenado this offseason at least until the Rockies trade Arenado or put the talks to bed (which they haven’t as they are the only team in MLB that has not spoken to the media on their thoughts on the 2020 season or their offseason plans).

If the Rockies do decide to trade Arenado, there are fewer suitors than you might think considering what Arenado is slated to make in 2021 and since many teams are unwilling to take on more payroll in the upcoming season, that takes teams like the St. Louis Cardinals out of the equation. Also, the Rockies may even have to eat some of Arenado’s salary.

But one team that could take on Arenado’s salary that will be looking to contend soon is the Detroit Tigers. As Chris Brown of Motor City Bengals mentioned in his article looking at the possibility with getting Arenado from the Rockies, the offseason has already been good for Tigers fans as they have hired former Astros manager A.J. Hinch as their new manager and a strong coaching staff that has made Tigers fans optimistic for the 2021 campaign.

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The Tigers don’t have much salary on the books right now and they have a glaring opening at third base. For the Rockies, they might also be a fit in trade negotiations as well considering their farm system.

The Tigers have, arguably, the best farm system in the game as they have five prospects among the top 42 in baseball. Among their top seven prospects, four of them have already made their MLB debut, which would definitely intrigue the Rockies as that is likely what they would look for in return.

Those four players are pitchers Casey Mize (#5 MLB.com prospect) and Tarik Skubal (#42 MLB.com prospect), third baseman/shortstop Isaac Paredes (Tigers #6 prospect, and outfielder Daz Cameron (son of former MLB player Mike Cameron and Tigers #7 prospect). All of those areas are currently areas of need for the Rockies or soon could be if Arenado is traded or if Trevor Story is let go in free agency or traded himself.

In other words, if the Tigers want Arenado badly enough, they have more than enough to get Arenado. Arenado does have a no-trade clause but if he sees that they are putting together a team that is playoff contenders, he may decide to waive it.