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The Los Angeles Dodgers were never aggressively pursuing All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado. The offseason brings a flurry of speculation, and at times, potential incorrect information.
Katie Woo of The Athletic reported an eye-opening fact into the Dodgers, Arenado trade rumors.
"The Dodgers never matched Arenado’s interest, instead committing to Max Muncy as their everyday third baseman," Woo wrote on Friday.
The Dodgers had not publicly expressed interest in the 10-time Gold Glove winner at any point in the offseason, but Arenado seemingly connected himself to the reigning World Series champions when he posted a series of photos on Instagram along with the song "dodger blue."
The St. Louis Cardinals had hoped to have Arenado off the payroll by spring training, but he reported to camp with the rest of the position players last week. As of now, it seems the Cardinals and Arenado are stuck with each other, at least until the deadline.
Muncy, himself, addressed the rumor mill earlier this winter and figured the more star talent, the merrier for the reigning World Series champions.
“As long as I get to stay around, I don’t care who they bring in,” Muncy said on Foul Territory. “I think Andrew (Friedman) and Brandon (Gomes) know my stance on that extremely well. I’ve never been one that said ‘No, I’m not going to play this position, I’m not going to play that position. I’m not going to bat in this spot in the order.’ I don’t care. As long as you put me out there, I’ll play wherever they want to put me. As long as it means I’m out there on that field wearing Dodger blue, playing in that stadium.
"You’re talking about arguably the best defensive third baseman if you look at his numbers. I can see why it would be appealing. To me, it doesn’t matter. I just want to be there and help the team win.”
Nonetheless, its evident the Dodgers were not very active in pursuing Arenado and it appears the L.A. organization is content with Muncy at the hot corner.
Maybe next offseason?
More must-reads:
- Yankees quickly pull plug on key trade-deadline acquisition
- Cubs president admits trade-deadline gamble 'not looking like a good bet'
- The 'MLB playoff home run leaders' quiz
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Brewers righty deserves consideration as dark-horse Cy Young candidate
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Kevin Love reportedly has preferred buyout destination
Kevin Love is eyeing a return to his roots. The five-time NBA All-Star big man Love has a preferred destination on the buyout market, Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints reported on Tuesday. Love would like to end up in Los Angeles. Now 36 years old, Love spent the last two-and-a-half seasons with the Miami Heat. He averaged just 5.3 points and 4.1 rebounds over 10.9 minutes per game in 2024-25 but still managed to shoot 35.8 percent from three on the year. Earlier this summer however, the Heat traded Love to the Utah Jazz as part of a three-team blockbuster deal. Now Love, a 17-year NBA veteran, is pursuing a contract buyout from the rebuilding Jazz. Though he is a native of Lake Oswego, Oregon, Love played his college ball in Los Angeles at UCLA. He also has ties to both L.A. teams — he won an NBA championship with Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James on the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016 and was also coached on that team by Tyronn Lue, who is now head coach of the L.A. Clippers. Both the Lakers and Clippers are currently sitting at 14 guaranteed contracts each. While they still have spots for two-way and Exhibit 10 players, that means the Lakers and Clippers are both down to their final open roster spot. The ex-rebounding leader Love still has some value, though probably more so as a jokester than as a contributing rotation piece. While Love clearly wants a homecoming to Los Angeles, he may have some convincing to do for either the Lakers or the Clippers to give him that final open roster spot.
Jerry Jones vocal in defense of handshake deal not being honored by Micah Parsons
Jerry Jones seems to be a firm believer that a handshake deal is as binding as any written contract. The Dallas Cowboys owner has maintained his stance that he had reached a verbal agreement with Micah Parsons on a contract extension back in March. On Tuesday, Jones was asked by NFL Network’s Jane Slater about the agreement not being put in writing. The 82-year-old claimed his initial acquisition of the Cowboys in 1989 started with a similar handshake deal. “I bought the Dallas Cowboys with a handshake,” Jones said, via The Athletic’s Jon Machota. “It took about 30 seconds. I gave the number, shook hands, the details we worked out later. As a matter of fact, one of the details involved a lot of money and I had to flip a coin over that. But the fundamental, ‘I’m buying and you’re gonna sell it to me for that range,’ that’s done. And those are done with eye contact and handshake. “Just so you understand the way that I communicate with people that I negotiate with. Let’s leave it at that. There’s no question that in the case of a player contract, you have to have it in writing. All parties do. We have a contract in writing, yet we’re still talking about renegotiating, so so much for that.” Parsons does not deny that he talked about contract terms with Jones in March. However, the star linebacker claims that he did not believe the conversation to be a formal negotiation. Parsons asserted in his trade request statement that he believed the conversation was going to be about team leadership before Jones shifted gears to talk about an extension. You can read more about Parsons’ side of the story here.
‘Probably the best pure pass rusher on the team’ — Jaelan Phillips hypes up a young Dolphins teammate who has yet to play his first NFL snap
The Miami Dolphins' pass rush is going to serve as one of the key engines for the 2025 season. The EDGE room boasts plenty of natural ability, as the Dolphins are home to three former first-round picks — Bradley Chubb, Jaelan Phillips, and Chop Robinson. Miami has plenty of reason for excitement around this group, as the Dolphins were completely without Chubb in 2024 and Phillips missed all but three and a half games. But according to Phillips, Miami sorely missed another member of the pass rush room last season — yet another name who missed all of 2024. Phillips, during his Tuesday press availability, credited young second-year pass rusher and former undrafted free agent Grayson Murphy as "the best pure pass rusher on the team". Former first-round pick Jaelan Phillips heaps heavy praise for Dolphins second-year pass rusher 'Grayson (Murphy) is probably the best pure pass rusher on the team, in my opinion.' - Jaelan Phillips on second-year UDFA pass rusher Grayson Murphy Talk about some hefty praise. Murphy was a splash player for the Dolphins in training camp and the preseason in 2024, only to suffer an injury and get placed on injured reserve after the first preseason game of the year against Atlanta. He's back and looking to make the team in 2025 amid the healthy competition at the top of the depth chart. The crazy thing about a statement like Phillips' comments is he may not be wrong. Murphy didn't go undrafted because he wasn't athletic enough or he lacked football IQ. Murphy went undrafted out of UCLA in 2024 in large part because he had a significantly shorter arm-length than what most teams would consider to be the desired "threshold" to be drafted. Murphy's arm length measured in at 30.50", with a 76" wingspan at his Pro Day at UCLA in 2024. Those numbers are zeroth-percentile (not a typo!) and second-percentile respectively amongst all EDGE defenders to pass through the pre-draft process since 1999. There's short arms and then there's where Murphy measured in. As a result, he was bucketed as an outlier and likely taken off many draft boards for the risk. The list of players with that little anatomical length to have success rushing the passer in the history of the NFL is pretty short. But here's the rub — you don't make it to the NFL and you don't play at a major college program with those severe physical shortcomings without making up for it with other elite qualities. Murphy tested well at his Pro Day: he ran a 4.66s 40-yard dash, posted a 37" vertical, jumped 10'05" in the broad jump and posted a 7.10s three-cone drill. Those a great numbers for an EDGE defender. But it's the football IQ that's allowed him to make it as far as he has. Murphy, in two seasons at UCLA, posted 108 pressures on 616 pass rush attempts. It's equal to a healthy 17.5% pressure rate. Despite his lack of reach, he showcased a variety of pass rush counters and hand maneuvers — because he had to in order to secure wins as a player. Sure, he had a twitchy first step and could turn the corner on tackles. But most players who are lacking in physical traits in some way can't lean on them as a crutch, so they have to develop and refine the other elements of their game. From that perspective, Phillips may be right. Phillips and Chop Robinson were both 5-star recruits coming out of high school. Their athleticism allowed them to win with raw ability for longer and deeper into their careers. Bradley Chubb played at North Carolina State and boasted 34" arms with heavy hands. Grayson Murphy was a 3-star transfer out of North Texas. You're darn right he's an instinctive, technical pass rusher. And in the case of Jaelan Phillips, it takes one to know one.
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