Blue Jays Rumors: AL East rivals pursuing Gold Glove winner, 3-time batting champion

The Toronto Blue Jays' offseason hasn't exactly gone as planned this winter. We all know what they need to do, but the front office has been unable to execute any offensive upgrades yet. While the Blue Jays are now focused on former Baltimore Orioles slugging outfielder Anthony Santander, a couple of AL East rivals were in the news recently for their latest rumored offseason pursuits.

The rival Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees have both been busy this winter, and by all accounts have had more productive offseasons than Toronto. After acquiring the top pitcher on the trade market, lefty strikeout machine Garrett Crochet, the Red Sox signed Walker Buehler to add to their handful of other moves.

Blue Jays' rival Red Sox preferred spot for Nolan Arenado

Now, the Sox are also being mentioned in connection with St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado. According to Mass Live's Chris Cotillo, the Red Sox are a "preferred destination" for the 10-time Gold Glove winner, with the Cardinals making it well-known that they'd like to trade the veteran to offload some payroll. Arenado has already vetoed a trade to the Houston Astros this offseason.

"Boston is a preferred destination — if not the preferred destination — for Arenado, a hot trade candidate who has a full no-trade clause, industry sources said Sunday," Cotillo reported recently.

Cotillo also points out that it's unclear if the Red Sox are actually seriously pursuing the 33-year-old and that a deal would require Boston to move current third baseman Rafael Devers across the diamond to first base, perhaps trading Triston Casas as well. It's not an ideal fit, but if the Red Sox want Arenado, he apparently won't block a move to Beantown.

At least, if you're looking for positives, Cardinals beat writer John Denton indicates Boston could be "close to pulling out" of the Alex Bregman sweepstakes, as this alternate path emerges.

New York Yankees going after trades for Luis Arraez, Gavin Lux

The Yankees have also been in the news again. As ESPN's Jeff Passan noted on Monday, not only are the Bronx Bombers one of the teams winning the offseason, but they've also been discussing a trade for San Diego Padres second baseman Luis Arraez (subscription required).

Arraez is a three-time batting champion with a career .323 batting average and .790 OPS. The 27-year-old spent the first four seasons of his career in the American League with the Minnesota Twins and carries a .381 average in 16 games against the Blue Jays.

As annoying as it would be seeing Arraez wind up in the AL East, he's not the only second baseman the Yankees are interested in. According to Sports Illustrated's Pat Ragazzo, the Yanks have shown interest in trading for Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Gavin Lux, who immediately became expendable after the West Coast juggernaut signed Hyeseong Kim from the KBO.

Once ranked as the Dodgers' No. 1 prospect in 2020, the 27-year-old Lux is already a two-time World Series champion. In his two full MLB seasons in 2022 and 2024 (he missed 2023 with a knee injury), he has a .263/.333/.391 slash line and 105 OPS+.

Either player would fill the hole at second base in New York and give the Blue Jays' pitchers fits at least 13 times a season.