The offseason is now officially underway with the World Series ending, and that means the Dodgers have some work to do. They have a clear need in the pitching department, but they could also look to upgrade all over the roster.
One name that seems to be circulating around once again for the Dodgers is third baseman Nolan Arenado of the St. Louis Cardinals. LA had interest in him at the trade deadline, and they could restart talks this winter again it seems.
“The St. Louis Cardinals might look to offload their surplus of outfielders (they also have third baseman Nolan Arenado, though any trade for him still looks like a long shot)”
Per Jack Harris of The LA Times
Landing Arenado seems like a pipedream at this point, but the Dodgers continue to be linked with him. Almost every season the two sides are paired together, and yet a deal has never come to fruition.
If LA wants Arenado, they can get Arenado from the Cardinals. They have the resources to acquire him, no matter the asking price from St. Louis, so it really is up to what the Dodgers want to do.
The question is should they do whatever it takes to land him? And the answer is yes.
They should go all-in for him barring any completely unrealistic asks from the Cardinals.
Arenado is still one of the best-hitting third basemen in the entire league, and he is still very good with his glove as well. He isn’t the same player on defense that he once was, but he would immediately upgrade their infield defense.
Last season, he hit .266 with 26 home runs and 93 runs batted in. Imagine him being slotted into the Dodgers lineup alongside Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. This may cause opposing pitchers to have nightmares about this Dodgers lineup, even more so than they already do.
The window with Betts and Freeman gets smaller each passing season, so LA must do whatever it takes to win now. They have a core in place to win a World Series, and adding someone like Arenado would give them a massive upgrade.
This is a move that the Dodgers should make, and doing so would energize the fanbase back up as well. It’s a win-win, and LA needs to be aggressive in how they round their team out this offseason.
Photo Credit: Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports
Have you subscribed to our YouTube Channel yet? Subscribe and hit that notification bell to stay up to date on all the latest Dodgers news, rumors, interviews, live streams, and more!