MLB Trade Rumor: Nolan Arenado to the Mets

The Package for Arenado to the Mets

There are many things to consider when trying to construct a fair trade including the talent and/or potential of the players as well as balancing out the financials. Nolan Arenado has a big contract that owes him nearly $200 million through 2026 as long as he doesn"t opt out. Even though Steve Cohen is the league"s richest owner, it"s unlikely he would want to take on that entire contract without also unloading some of his own payroll back to the Rockies.

Because of this, a higher-paid veteran such as Robinson Cano or Jeurys Familia may be included in the potential deal. Then of course for a player as good as Arenado, the Rockies will want some combination of young talent which could include prospects or current major leaguers such as Brandon Nimmo, Amed Rosario, Dominic Smith, and David Peterson. Whatever the package is, it won"t be cheap to get Arenado to the Mets.

Arenado to the Mets: How Good Is Nolan Arenado?

The short answer: Nolan Arenado is very good. He is not only dangerous at the plate, but he has established himself as one of the best fielders in the game as well. Some of his awards include 8 straight Gold Gloves, 4 Platinum Gloves, 4 Silver Sluggers, and 5 All-Star games. It"s also important to point out that he"s not even 30 years old yet so there should be no reason to think regression is imminent.

Arenado to the Mets: His Home / Away Splits

This is always a subject that seems to come up when a player is coming from the Rockies and the ultimate hitter-friendly Coors Field. Some Rockies hitters have struggled after leaving Coors but that"s definitely not always the case. The most recent example of the latter has been the success of D.J. LeMahieu with the New York Yankees. The best way to try and determine if this will be a factor if the Rockies do indeed send Arenado to the Mets is to look at his career Home/Away splits.

At home, he slashes .322/.376/.609 with 136 home runs over 2,080 at-bats while on the road he slashes .263/.322/.471 with 99 home runs over 2,038 at-bats. This is a pretty significant drop-off when playing away from Coors. Maybe even more concerning is that he only has a career .229 batting average at Citi Field.

For the Mets, this does not necessarily mean that he would not be able to adjust accordingly, but it raises a legitimate concern as to what type of bat they would really be getting if they brought Arenado to the Mets without the luxury of Coors for half of the year and instead of playing those games at Citi Field. On the more reassuring side, at least the home ballpark should have little to no effect on his stellar fielding abilities.

If Arenado to the Mets Happens…

It"s fair to say that even if his offensive stats were to fall off a bit, Nolan Arenado would still be a huge upgrade to this Mets lineup and an even bigger improvement to their defense. He would be a nice addition to an already solid core of Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, and Michael Conforto. New owner Steve Cohen has made it clear that the goal for the Mets is to win now and that he expects to win a World Series in the next 3 to 5 years. Striking a deal to bring Arenado to the Mets would certainly improve the chances of achieving that goal.

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