Royals seen as longshot trade fit for aging All-Star who would be utter catastrophe

There's no denying that after officially opening there contention window with a stunning rise to the postseason in 2024 and then immediately falling short of October the year after, the Kansas City Royals will be active this offseason in hopes of regaining that form.

With that comes speculation from insiders and analysts, pitching how they'd resolve the Royals' series of issues facing them ahead of 2026 if they were in GM J.J. Picollo's shoes.

While some are realistic or even exciting options to think of, there's always going to be some that leave you saying "huh".

The Royals faithful were treated to one of those this week when MLB.com's Mike Petriello listed the Royals as a potential trade fit for St. Louis Cardinals veteran Nolan Arenado on Tuesday.

In Petriello's defense, the Royals were certainly not among his top trade fits for Arenado, merely just a longshot that he said is only a fit "if you squint to see it".

Still though, the mere mention of this union should send shivers down Royals fans' spines, as if this were to happen, it's difficult to see it as being anything other than an utter catastrophe.

Royals must avoid catastrophic trade for an aging Nolan Arenado

From a sheer résumé standpoint, there's few players quite like Arenado, who at his best was an electrifying MVP contender.

The veteran third baseman is an eight-time All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger Award winner who's surreal defensive prowess made him into a 10-time Gold Glove and six-time Platinum Glove Award winner. When you take all of this into account, it's easy to see why he's a two-time MVP runner up and four-time top five vote getter for the award.

However, those days appear to be firmly behind him. He hasn't been an All-Star since 2023 and has not received any new hardware for his mantle since 2022.

Just look at 2025. There's no other way to describe his season this past year other than a complete fall from grace.

In his age-34 season, Arenado slashed just .237/.289/.377 (all career lows), with just 12 homers, 52 RBI and an 84 wRC+. Not to mention his defense went from spectacular to just good, as 6 DRS and 3 OAA are a far cry from the 20 DRS and 14 OAA he posted just three years prior.

Other than some good-looking plate discipline, with a 96th percentile K-rate and 85th percentile whiff rate, there's really nothing to get excited about when it come Arenado these days.

Then, there's the fit, which for an aging below-average bat like Arenado is virtually non-existent in Kansas City, even with a potentially vacant infield position open as Petriello mentioned.

"Kansas City has Maikel Garcia, coming off an excellent season at third, but also a hole at second base that Garcia could probably fill if needed," Petriello wrote.

While that's certainly true, as Jonathan India and Michael Massey were largely uninspiring at second last season and Garcia does have the ability to play there, it's not as easy as that statement makes it out to seem.

Garcia wasn't just any third baseman this season, he owned that position for the Royals in 2025. He was the best in the American League defensively at the hot corner, taking home his first career Gold Glove while also managing to more than hold his own with the bat after being nominated for Silver Slugger after a 50 point year-over-year rise in wRC+.

If we were talking about the Royals bringing in someone who's still at the top of their game like Alex Bregman for example, perhaps the conversation of shifting positions can be had. But for a declining talent like Arenado, this frankly seems like it would be borderline disrespectful, on top of being flat-out unproductive.

And we've yet to even discuss the financials at player here, which makes Arenado even more unappealing to a contender like Kansas City.

While his 2026 salary isn't as high as it has been during his current contract, a $16 million price tag is still excessive for anyone putting up numbers like him, especially for a traditionally budget-conscious small market organization like the Royals.

Kansas City unquestionably has offensive needs to address as a team this winter, but bogging themselves down with a deteriorating former star is not one of them.