Miami Marlins should not pursue this third baseman

It appears that St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado is available by trade this off-season. We've seen some bad suggestions for the Miami Marlins and some have been coming out about the team pursuing Arenado in a trade. It should be pretty clear that there are much better options on the free agent market for the team to sign. Trading for Arenado isn't one of those good options.

The Miami Marlins will not be acquiring Nolan Arenado this year.

To start with, Nolan Arenado has a no-trade clause. He made it clear that he wants to play for a contender, which is why he pushed the Colorado Rockies to trade him to the St. Louis Cardinals. With St. Louis now rebuilding, or at least taking a big step back, it makes sense that he would wnat to go to another team. It's unclear why he'd want to go to the Miami Marlins as that other team.

I expect The Fish to be better next season, due to all of the starting pitchers coming back. I wouldn't go as far as expecting The Fish to make the playoffs however. I do see it as possible, but I wouldn't bet on it. I don't see Arenado feeling too optimistic either. Peter Bendix will not really have interest in him anyway.

Nolan Arenado has name value, but putting that name aside, he's not the player that he once was. He'll be 34 years old next season and is coming off a season, in which he batted .272/.325/.394, with 16 home runs and 71 RBI, in 152 games and 578 AB. He was worth 2.5 WAR for that performance. He was worth 2.4 WAR last season. He's also owed $32 million next season ($5 million paid by Colorado); $27 million in 2026 (Colorado pays $5 million) and $15 million in 2027. St. Louis will have to cover some of that money, but is that making the acquisition any better?

There's no reason for the Miami Marlins to pursue acquiring a past his prime third baseman just for name value. Peter Bendix won't do it and Nolan Arenado won't waive his NTC.