Sports Time Radio

As we all know 2020 has pretty much been the weirdest year of our lives and that includes sports. We saw the NBA and the NHL finish their seasons in “bubbles” and MLB played just a 60 game regular season. Now the NFL has had it’s ups and downs, but it looks like they might get through their season, but with a limited number attendance. Luckily the year is coming to a close and hopefully 2021 will be a better season for all of us fans. Let’s get into some sports talk.

AS MLB enters it’s off season there as always is a lot of talk about where the top free agents might end up signing, but one thing that is just starting to get noticed is that it’s a weak year for free agent 3rd baseman; so that has energized some trade talks. Oddly the two names that seem to be mentioned in these trade talks are the two 3rd baseman that where talked about last off season as trade candidates; Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs and Nolan Arenado of the Colorado Rockies.

Now these are two players who are on the opposite end of the spectrum contract wise. Bryant is in his last year of arbitration and will hit the free agent market after the 2021 season. Arenado on the other hand is going to be starting the 3rd year of his 8 year $260 million dollar deal that he sign with Colorado. Arenado is still owed $199 million dollars on his deal, but he does have an opt out after the 2021 season. If he took that opt out both he and Bryant could be on the free agent market at the same time after the 2021 season.

You’d have to think that Arenado would have the higher trade value right now since he has a contract, but that opt out could bring down the value of what Colorado could get in return for him. It’s really unclear what the Cubs might be able to get for Bryant. You have to remember that he’s a Scott Boras client and Boras likes to take his players into free agency. That means any team that trades for Bryant may only have him for one season if they can’t resign him.

It’s clear that on the field even though Bryant is a solid defensive 3rd baseman he’s not on the level of Arenado in the field. Arenado has won the National League Gold Glove at 3rd base all 8 of the seasons he’s been in the majors. Arenado has also won 4 Platinum Glove awards. Bryant has shown a versatility that Arenado hasn’t as he’s logged inning at not only 3rd base; he’s also played 1st base as well as all three outfield positions. So while Bryant isn’t the defender that Arenado is and let’s face it who is? He has shown he can help his team on defense at multiple positions.

Now at the plate they’re both coming off of down years in a shortened 2020 season. Arenado played in 48 games and hit a career low .253 while Bryant also hit a career low .206 while playing in 34 games. Bryant has struggled with injuries two of the last three seasons and while Arenado missed some games last season due to injury, but he’s stayed relatively healthy throughout his career.

Now like just about every player that has put on a Rockies uniform there are some people that question Arenado’s numbers because he plays his home games in Coors Field, but to be fair with the wind blowing out Bryant has a pretty good place to hit at Wrigley Field.

Out of the two Bryant is the one who’s won both an MVP and a Rookie of the Year award, but Arenado did have a run of finishing in the Top 10 of MVP voting from 2015 to 2019; so it’s clear we’re talking about two quality players here.

After looking at all the numbers and trying to figure out who might be the better player for whichever team is interested in making a deal you have to ask yourself how likely are their current teams to trade them.

With the improvement of the San Diego Padres and the fact that the World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers are in their division the Rockies might be more inclined to trade Arenado than the Cubs might be to trade Bryant. The NL Central is pretty much a wide open division and having Bryant in their line up everyday could make the Cubs a contender in that division, but with the upcoming free agents the Cubs have could Bryant be dealt to try and resign someone else?

Now the team that seems to have come up for both of these payers is the Dodgers. Remember Justin Turner is a free agent and just turned 36 years old. Bryant will be 29 years old in January while Arenado turns 30 years old in April. While the Dodgers have what every team wants in a deal; prospects you have to wonder if Colorado would trade their superstar player to a division rival. The Dodgers also have deep pockets and could give Boras the type of contract he wants for Bryant; so there is potential of a deal their, but will it happen.

While it’s always fun to speculate on where a free agent is going to sing and how much money they’ll get. It might be more interesting this off season to see if a team is willing to deal for Bryant or Arenado.

Now it’s your turn. Where do you have Bryant and Arenado playing next season? Do you see the Dodgers pulling the trigger on deal for one of these players?

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