4 perfect trade partners that could help transform the Blue Jays

St. Louis Cardinals

One name. Nolan Arenado.

Does Toronto have the assets to trade for him? Yes and no. Yes in the sense that they literally could gut the farm and possibly land one of the best at the hot corner the game has ever seen. But no in the sense that it might not be worth it.

Arenado had a down year in 2023, boasting a 109 OPS+ a year after finishing third in NL MVP voting. Another issue is he's turning 33 shortly after the commencement of next season. Though his defense is still top notch and we've seen him bounce back from a down year. But determining his worth via trade is hard to do as a fan.

The main reason is his contract. While the remainder of his deal isn't so bad as it steadily declines to $15 million in his final year, it's the full no trade clause that could be scary. Not to mention, $30 million of his contract from 2022-2026 is deferred in interest-free $3 million annual payments ranging from 2032-2041.

If Arenado can be the same top-tier player the league is used to seeing, then a trade would be completely worth it, especially given the shortening window of Toronto's current core. If there's ever a time to trade for him, it's now while his value might be on the lower end. Otherwise, the lone solution to striking a deal without losing someone like Tiedemann would be to maybe eat the contract of a player like...Steven Matz.

Whether that's worth it is debatable, but it's a conversation worth having.