Keep track of all of the latest offseason trade and free agency rumors pertaining to the Phillies on Phillies Nation.
Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 3:45 p.m. ET: Nightengale: Phillies among teams to have had contact with agent Joel Wolfe regarding Nolan Arenado trade
Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado is likely to get traded this offseason. He is willing to waive his no-trade clause to go to a contender. John Mozeliak, the Cardinals’ GM, even told reporters that his “intention” is to trade Arenado.
The Cardinals have given Arenado’s agent Joel Wolfe a chance to speak directly with teams to help St. Louis facilitate a trade. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported the Phillies, along with the Red Sox, Padres and Astros, as teams Wolfe has spoken directly with regarding Arenado.
Cardinals beat writer Derrick Goold of the St. Louis-Post Dispatch does not have the Phillies as one of the teams that the Cardinals and Wolfe have spoken with, but he does have an interesting note in his story. Goold wrote that the Astros and Phillies are among teams that are “shopping for a third baseman.”
That somewhat contradicts what Phillies manager Rob Thomson said publicly. He said he recently told Alec Bohm that the Phillies are “not shopping him.” If the Phillies move Bohm, Arenado could be a fit. A 10-time Gold Glove Award winner, Arenado is coming off the worst full offensive season of his career. He has three years and $74 million remaining on his contract. Some of that includes salary relief from his original team, the Rockies, as well as deferred money. — Destiny Lugardo
Bob Nightengale recently reported that the White Sox rejected a package that featured at least Alec Bohm and Justin Crawford. The Phillies’ offer over the summer is unknown, but ESPN reported in September that Philadelphia declined Chicago’s proposal to include Andrew Painter in a deal. It’s likely that the Phillies’ current offer is much closer to the Bohm-and-Crawford package while Chicago seeks something closer to Painter, or perhaps even Painter specifically. It may prove a gap too wide to bridge.
What’s more, two other contenders have emerged in the Crochet sweepstakes: the Mets and Yankees. Rosenthal called the New York squads the “most aggressive suitors as of Monday.”
It sounds that the White Sox’s asking price is high — it’s hard to blame them — and only climbing as more and more teams jump into the fray. Simultaneously, it sounds Philadelphia’s willingness to meet that asking price is falling. Trade talks can turn on a dime, the Phillies still seem to be firmly in the running and Rosenthal’s reporting doesn’t suggest otherwise.