Atlanta Braves: Could a Nolan Arenado trade actually be possible?

Ever since news broke about the now-public feud between Rockies GM Jeff Bridich and star 3B Nolan Arenado, Atlanta Braves fans’ interest has perked up.

If you’re an Atlanta Braves fan, you might have been annoyed to hear on Monday that trade talks about Nolan Arenado had ‘gone nowhere’ and that he would be staying with Colorado.

Almost immediately after this news, though, Arenado himself sought out the media to announce to the world that he feels disrespected by the Rockies – and that this extends well beyond and apart from anything to do with trade talks.

That suddenly perked the hopes of many Braves fans back up again.  So as a public service, let’s review exactly why this team should not be getting that interested in Arenado.

Discontent in the Ranks

This news is a problem for the Rockies – no doubt – as it creates a situation in which there’s a very public dysfunctional relationship between team management and their highest profile player.

Such things are almost never resolved amicably.

• In early 2015, there were rumors that SS Troy Tulowitski was demanding a trade. He denied those rumors. Nonetheless, he was dealt to Toronto on July 27 that year in a manner that induced outright anger from Tulo, who felt that Bridich hadn’t lived up to a promise to keep him informed if talks were get close.
• In 2017, Giancarlo Stanton was annoyed at the perpetually rebuilding nature of the Marlins. He ultimately accepted a deal that landed him with the Yankees that next December.
• The very next week, (then) Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto let it be known that he wanted to be out of Miami since all the good players around him had already been shipped off – a group that included Marcell Ozuna and Christian Yelich in addition to Stanton.

It took a bit longer, but a week before Spring Training, Realmuto became a member of the Phillies.

Now it’s Arenado who is upset – and it’s interesting that the same teams seem to be breeding this discontent.

But this newest feud is liable to force Colorado’s hand. There’s multiple reasons for this:

• Arenado has 2 years remaining before his contracted opt-out option. Even if he has to take a pay cut, it’s almost a mortal lock that he’s getting out of Denver.
• That 2 years of control means his peak trade value is happening right now – bloated contract notwithstanding.
• For those who think that a July deadline-deal would be just as good (1-1/2 years of control), note that there would be very limited bidding among only a couple of contending teams at that point, and Arenado gets the final say thanks to a no-trade clause.
• The Rockies have no reason to throw away $70 million (his monies due over the next pair of years) for a single player while the team hasn’t spent a single dollar to improve themselves this off-season… a team that was 71-91 in 2019.

Okay, maybe you can claim ‘fannies in the seats’ as 1 reason. But is there any chance of getting $70 million worth or those?