The New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals reportedly discussed a trade earlier this offseason. Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors cited an MLB.com report the Yankees sent an offer to the St. Louis Cardinals that would have sent starting pitcher Marcus Stroman to St. Louis for Gold Glove third baseman Nolan Arenado.
"Earlier this offseason, the Cardinals declined an offer from the Yankees that could've sent Marcus Stroman to St. Louis for Nolan Arenado, according to a report from Mark Feinsand, John Denton and Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. It's unknown whether Arenado would have approved that trade," Franco wrote. "MLB.com reports that the Cardinals never brought it to the star third baseman because they were uninterested in acquiring Stroman."
The groundwork of this deal would have been a dream come true for the Yankees. Arenado would fill a huge hole at third base, while Stroman is expendable. New York has a starting rotation of Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Clark Schmidt, and Luis Gil. Stroman is the odd man out and he's making way too much money to be the odd man out.
It makes sense why the Cardinals wouldn't want this deal. Stroman wouldn't provide them with anything special and the deal wouldn't get them off any money, which is why St. Louis is looking to trade Arenado in the first place.
The third piece of this trade is Arenado, who has a no-trade clause. Arenado's reported list of teams he would clear a trade for didn't include the Yankees, so it's unknown if he would have cleared this deal anyway.
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