Dodgers Rumors: MLB Insider Reveals What It Will Take for LA to Acquire Nolan Arenado

Jul 13, 2022; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) hits a two run home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the third inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Dodgers have been linked to Nolan Arenado for quite some time now.

The eight-time All-Star third baseman has enjoyed a long and successful MLB career, but this offseason had some of the more prevalent signs that led many around the baseball world to believe the Newport Beach, CA native was headed to his local team.

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Arenado has been the St. Louis Cardinals' third baseman since 2021 and is batting .267 with an OPS of .800 this season.

The link to L.A. grew strong when the All-Star shared two vague Instagram posts relating to the Dodgers this offseason. A much less obvious — but still notable — move is when he vetoed a trade that would have sent him to the bitter rival Houston Astros earlier in the offseason.

USA Today Sports' MLB insider Bob Nightengale told Dodgers Nation's Doug McKain that he still expects an Arenado move to happen at some point this year.

“The Cardinals still want to move him,” Nightengale said. “I do think that Arenado will get moved at some point. If something ever happened to (Max) Muncy or something like that, Arenado would do cartwheels to get to L.A., his hometown. He could have gone to Houston, turned that down. Could have gone to the Angels, turned that down, too. But he would jump up and down to have a chance to go to the Dodgers. But the Dodgers don’t need him with Muncy, and he still has some good money left (on his contract).”

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Muncy is the current man on third and hoping to keep that role.

Offensively, Muncy is struggling this season, slashing .178/.282/.247 with an OPS of .529. Known for his power, the two-time All-Star has yet to hit a long ball through his 23 appearances.

Defensively, Muncy has already committed three errors this season. This has given him a -1 Outs Above Average ranking per Fan Graphs.

There has been no indication that the team wants to move on from Muncy, especially given the two-year extension he signed ahead of last season, but anything can happen in the world of baseball. If a situation presented itself that the Dodgers would suddenly need third base depth, perhaps Arenado would be the clear target.

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