The trade that could have been

[old nurse]

Arenado is going from the Rockies to the Cardinals.  What, if any was your favorite fan trade scenario for him. My favorite one I saw was he had a no trade clause and thus could veto a trade here. No one wants  to be here

[ashbury]

No analytic method will perfectly predict player performance or FO decisions. However, I find it interesting to note that the site https://www.baseballtradevalues.com/ has Arenado's value at -43.7. And look at what Colorado apparently is throwing into the deal: $50M. Close enough for government work, as we used to say.

[TopGunn#22]

And that's the weird state of the state in baseball today.

Arenado is by any measurement a cornerstone.  A player you build your team around (Trevor Story is as well).  When the Cardinals send 5 minor leaguers (none of which are rated higher than the 6th best in the Cards farm system) AND Colorado sends $50 their way as well I'd have to say the Cards made out like bandits.

Arenado and Goldschmidt at the corners and batting #3 & #4 in their lineup.  Gotta love the Cards front office.  Historically, if the Cards NEED something, their F.O. finds a way to get it done.

This trade could prove to be tremendous for the Rockies.

Three or four of these guys might just work out.  They shed a HUGE salary.

But I'm betting my mortgage that the Cards won this.  BIG TIME.  They didn't give up Dylan Carlson, Alex Reyes, Bader, O'Neill, any of their other young pitchers.  

Imagine if the Twins had given up Gordon, Cave, Enlow, Blankenship and Dakota Chalmers and gotten Arenado AND $50 from the Rockies.

Then shifted Donaldson to 1B and made Sano full time DH.  Arenado and Simmons on the left side of the infield...WOW.

Would you be a happy Twins fan today ???

[nicksaviking]

Yeah, I’m actually in the boat that Colorado is taking St. Louis for a ride here. He’s 30, was bad last year and has a sub .800 OPS away from Coors for his career. Even if the Twins had an opening at 3B, I would have run away screaming from this deal. That 50M was not very much competition, St. Louis still has to pay him 24M for six more years. Yuck.

 

But if Colorado is finally open to trading, sign me up for some German Marquez.

[twinfan]

I would have traded Sano and Lewis for him - especially if Colorado was throwing in 50 mil. I would not make the same trade for Story though.

[specialiststeve]

 

Yeah, I’m actually in the boat that Colorado is taking St. Louis for a ride here. He’s 30, was bad last year and has a sub .800 OPS away from Coors for his career. Even if the Twins had an opening at 3B, I would have run away screaming from this deal. That 50M was not very much competition, St. Louis still has to pay him 24M for six more years. Yuck.

But if Colorado is finally open to trading, sign me up for some German Marquez.

 

Take it you have never seen him play? He is a stud and St. Louis got a steal. Not top FA given up and paying a top 10 player 24 million per... A Steal.... By the way there is ZERO chance he doesn't use his opt out so the commitment is short for St. Louis... unless they want to resign him.. He would have looked great in a Twins Uni ... 

[KirbyDome89]

 

Yeah, I’m actually in the boat that Colorado is taking St. Louis for a ride here. He’s 30, was bad last year and has a sub .800 OPS away from Coors for his career. Even if the Twins had an opening at 3B, I would have run away screaming from this deal. That 50M was not very much competition, St. Louis still has to pay him 24M for six more years. Yuck.

But if Colorado is finally open to trading, sign me up for some German Marquez.

I don't know how much stock I'd put in a lot of performances, both good and bad, from last season. 

 

They're paying him through his age 35 season. He won't be in his prime, but it's a better situation than what MN has at 3B right now. The Twins are paying Donaldson 21M for the next three seasons, he'll be a few months shy of 38 when that contract ends, and he's struggled with injuries in three of the last four seasons. This isn't to say I'm not a fan of the Donaldson signing; I'm still am optimistic about his impact on the lineup.

 

If MN had a hole at 3B I don't know why they'd run away from bringing in a younger, better version of what they currently have, especially if only cost them a few million more per season. 

[nicksaviking]

 

Take it you have never seen him play? He is a stud and St. Louis got a steal. Not top FA given up and paying a top 10 player 24 million per... A Steal.... By the way there is ZERO chance he doesn't use his opt out so the commitment is short for St. Louis... unless they want to resign him.. He would have looked great in a Twins Uni ... 

 

I'm just saying the numbers suggest he's not a steal. For his career his OPS away from Coors Field is .793, that's slightly below average for a MLB 3B. Since 2013, his rookie year, had that been his full season OPS, he'd be 16th among 3B. He's hit 99 HR away from Coors for his career, that would equal about 25 HR per year, which is far below the 40+ we're used to seeing him hit. He has a .322 BA at home vs a .266 BA on the road.

 

That's still a good and useful player but those aren't numbers teams give six year 149M deals to at the age of 30. His road numbers are pretty similar to Didi Gregorius, who just signed for a 2 year 28M deal and he plays a more premium position.

[tony&rodney]

These arguments about Coors are the same we have heard forever - last one was a guy named D.J.

[Danchat]

 

And that's the weird state of the state in baseball today.

Arenado is by any measurement a cornerstone.  A player you build your team around (Trevor Story is as well).  When the Cardinals send 5 minor leaguers (none of which are rated higher than the 6th best in the Cards farm system) AND Colorado sends $50 their way as well I'd have to say the Cards made out like bandits.

Arenado and Goldschmidt at the corners and batting #3 & #4 in their lineup.  Gotta love the Cards front office.  Historically, if the Cards NEED something, their F.O. finds a way to get it done.

This trade could prove to be tremendous for the Rockies.

Three or four of these guys might just work out.  They shed a HUGE salary.

But I'm betting my mortgage that the Cards won this.  BIG TIME.  They didn't give up Dylan Carlson, Alex Reyes, Bader, O'Neill, any of their other young pitchers.  

Imagine if the Twins had given up Gordon, Cave, Enlow, Blankenship and Dakota Chalmers and gotten Arenado AND $50 from the Rockies.

Then shifted Donaldson to 1B and made Sano full time DH.  Arenado and Simmons on the left side of the infield...WOW.

Would you be a happy Twins fan today ???

The names you mentioned are all #15 and worse prospects, except Enlow. Colorado would be dumb to move him for those caliber of prospects.

 

I guess I would like the move for the Twins, it'd make the Donaldson move look more questionable since he'd likely be the DH/1B now, but boy would our left side of the infield be fantastic. I'd like the move more if we hadn't splurged on Donaldson.