Aside from free agency, potential Mookie Betts and Francisco Lindor trades were at the center of speculation through the early stages of the offseason. More recently a deal involving Nolan Arenado has become more of a focal point.
Of course, the Colorado Rockies have publicly maintained they are not interested in trading their franchise cornerstone.
“I’ve been around long enough to know when you’re talking about great players, right, GMs will talk to each other and say, ‘Hey, if you’re ever thinking about doing anything with so and so, we’re in line. Give us a call,'” Rockies manager Bud Black said at the Winter Meetings.
“I think that’s sorta what’s happened here. This venue is a natural place for a lot of baseball talk and rumors, for lack of a better word. There is a lot of creativity amongst general managers in this day and age and names are bandied about because we’re all in this environment together.”
Nonetheless, there is a sense an Arenado trade is more likely than Betts or Lindor getting moved, according to Jon Morosi of MLB.com:
Multiple executives said in recent days that Arenado is the most likely of The Big Three position player trade candidates — Mookie Betts and Francisco Lindor are the others — to be moved in the four weeks before Spring Training camps open.
It recently was speculated an Arenado trade was essentially a 50-50 proposition. The Los Angeles Dodgers are presumed to be among the teams interested, but the Rockies trading within the National League West — much less with L.A. — isn’t thought to be likely.
The St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers are reported as teams to have had recent contact with the Rockies.
Arenado signed an eight-year, $260 million contract extension last February, a deal that includes the option to opt out after the 2021 season and a full no-trade clause. At the time, Arenado spoke positively about his future with the Rockies, but during the year expressed some frustration.
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