Eight-time All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado has enjoyed a distinguished MLB career. However, this offseason brought increased speculation that the Newport Beach, CA native might be drawn to play for his hometown team, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Arenado has been the St. Louis Cardinals’ third baseman since 2021 and is currently batting .267 with an .800 OPS this season.
The connection to Los Angeles intensified when Arenado shared “two vague Instagram posts” related to the Dodgers this offseason. A less overt, but still significant, indicator was his decision to veto a trade that would have sent him to the rival Houston Astros earlier in the offseason.
Los Angeles Dodgers Still Top Nolan Arenado’s Trade Destination List
USA Today Sports’ MLB insider Bob Nightengale told Dodgers Nation’s Doug McKain that he anticipates a potential Arenado trade at some point. “The Cardinals still want to move him,” Nightengale said. “I do think that Arenado will get moved at some point. If something ever happened to (Max) Muncy or something like that, Arenado would do cartwheels to get to L.A., his hometown. He could have gone to Houston, turned that down. Could have gone to the Angels, turned that down, too. But he would jump up and down to have a chance to go to the Dodgers. But the Dodgers don’t need him with Muncy, and he still has some good money left (on his contract).”
As Nolan Arenado approached his mid-30s, concerns about a potential decline in performance were prevalent. However, his performance in early 2025 offers some optimism in that regard. Currently, Arenado is slashing .268/.375/.427 with two home runs and seven doubles in 22 games. He has also demonstrated improved plate discipline, drawing 10 unintentional walks compared to just seven strikeouts.
These factors contribute to an OPS+ of 126, a notable increase from his 102 OPS+ in the previous year. Further encouraging is that Arenado, following an offseason focused on explosive, quick-twitch strength training, has significantly increased his bat speed and nearly doubled his rate of fast swings (swings registering 75 mph or greater).
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Simultaneously, he continues to exhibit exceptional contact skills, ranking in the 99th percentile among MLB hitters in strikeout rate and the 85th percentile in whiff rate. While Arenado’s expected statistics do not align precisely with his actual production, he has a proven track record of consistently outperforming those projections.
His defensive prowess at third base remains elite. He ranks in the 95th percentile of fielders in terms of Statcast’s Outs Above Average, and Baseball Info Solutions ranks him 13th out of 93 players at third base this season in Defensive Runs Saved. Arenado continues to be a significant defensive asset, and there is substantial evidence to suggest that he has, at least for the present, mitigated concerns about offensive decline.