As the MLB offseason races toward a conclusion with Opening Day just 80 days away, several top free agents remain unsigned. But there is more to the offseason than free agency. The interval between the end of the World Series and the first pitch of the season has traditionally been the time for teams to make trades – and in this offseason’s trade market there is no hotter commodity than St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado.

The eight-time All-Star from Newport Beach, Calif., signed a $260 million contract extension with the team that drafted him, the Colorado Rockies, in 2019. Just two years later, the Cardinals traded for him with a package of prospects and picked up his contract.

Now, with two years left to go on Arenado’s deal, St. Louis is desperate to unload him, with president of baseball operations John Mozeliak saying that the team is embarking on a “reset,” and that it “would be a big help” to dump a contract the size of Arenado’s.

The catch is that the 33-year-old 10-time Gold Glove winner’s contract gives him the right to approve or block any trade. When the Cardinals attempted to send him to the Houston Astros in mid-December, Arenado exercised that right, stamping his veto on the planned deal. According to a new report published Sunday night by the Boston-area media outlet MassLive, however, that would not be a problem if the Cardinals set up a trade shipping Arenado to the Boston Red Sox.

More MLB: Dodgers’ $80 Million Ace Predicted To Betray Los Angeles, Sign With Hated Rival “Boston is a preferred destination – if not the preferred destination – for Arenado, a hot trade candidate who has a full no-trade clause, industry sources said Sunday,” wrote MassLive reporters Chris Cotillo and Sean McAdam. “If the Red Sox and Cardinals were to match up on value, there would be no hesitation on Arenado’s end to accept the deal.”

The MassLive reporters noted, however, that the Red Sox may not be interested in trading for the potential Hall of Famer. The Boston third base job is held by Rafael Devers, whose 10-year, $313.5 million contract signed before the 2023 season makes him the highest-paid player in Red Sox history, and could make the team reluctant to force him to switch positions. With a new third baseman in town, Devers would likely divide time between DH and first base.