House That Hank Built
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All I want for an Atlanta Braves Christmas is…

By Alan Carpenter

What the Atlanta Braves need is to make some holiday cheer with the Colorado Rockies.(no photo credit cited)
What the Atlanta Braves need is to make some holiday cheer with the Colorado Rockies.(no photo credit cited) /
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The Rockies need to wave their own white flags with regard to Nolan Arenado. (Photo by Scott Nelson/Getty Images) /

The terms of surrender are not favorable to the one surrendering

Who could the Rockies turn to for help?  We’d have to start with the “money” teams… those who still have some actually hard-currency resources:

  • Dodgers
  • Giants
  • Mets
  • Blue Jays

That’s the entire list.  Even the Yankees and Red Sox can’t be in this group and they have on-going issues of their own (after all, that’s why the Sox failed to try seriously to extend Mookie Betts).

But there are problems even with this short list, namely:

DODGERS/GIANTS:  both teams are within the NL West with Colorado and since PR considerations appear to be involved to some extent, you’d have to believe that the Rockies do not want Arenado taking his revenge out on them for the next several years in front of their own fans… while being cheered for doing do.

The Giants have many more problems than Arenado would be able to solve anyway and they aren’t close enough to being truly competitive to justify adding that contract.

The Dodgers, while they do have money, don’t have an unlimited supply; and as the reigning World Series champs, they are likely thinking about “tweaking” more than adding major new pieces.

METS:  Yeah, they’ve got money, but they clearly aren’t being stupid about spending it (see also, “Philadelphia”).  They just passed on J.T. Realmuto because of his contractual demands and Arenado makes at least 50% more than an estimated Realmuto deal would be.

Also, the Mets have real needs other than third base — starting with center field.  They are also rumored to be in play for Francisco Lindor‘s services, so while Colorado would certainly love to have Steve Cohen’s money in play… it’s almost certainly destined for other player’s pockets.

BLUE JAYS:  Hardly any team has been as open about throwing money around this Winter as Toronto, but the fact is, they’re having trouble getting anyone to actually take it.  Whether that’s because of the playing field, the policies of the Canadian and provincial governments about COVID, the tax rates in Canada, the travel, the uncertainty about future playing locations… or all of the above… the Jays haven’t yet landed the big fish.

Like the Mets, George Springer is their main target, so third base isn’t their area of biggest need.  Also like the Mets, they have multiple needs, so the idea of putting all of their monies into one player like Arenado doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Oh – and with any of the above teams:  a trade would certainly have all the earmarks of a pure salary dump… with little or nothing of value coming back to Colorado in return.

How well would that go over in Denver?

So that’s the list of teams that could (in theory) absorb all of Arenado’s contract.  This leaves the Rockies with the unpalatable choice of either keeping him on a non-competitive team or having to pay a significant sum for the privilege of sending their star third baseman elsewhere to play.

That is exactly the problem they need to come to grips with.

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