Rangers AL West rival took a stab at All-Star third baseman prior to D-backs trade

Last week the St. Louis Cardinals traded their All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado to the Arizona Diamondbacks for a fifth-round pick but it appears before that, an AL West team was in the mix to land him.

Reported by The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, the Athletics were very interested in acquiring Arenado and were even ready to absorb more of his salary than Arizona ended up doing. Therefore, why wasn't that trade made?

In the end it came down to Arenado not being willing to accept a trade to the A's and preferred either Arizona or San Diego as a landing spot.

Nolan Arenado to A's would've shifted Rangers' AL West standing even more

It may seem so on paper but the A's are no longer a bottom feeding team in Major League Baseball. Just a few years ahead of their impending move to Las Vegas, team owner John Fisher is looking to give the fanbase more familiar faces.

Of course they still have guys like Brent Rooker, Nick Kurtz, Shea Langeliers and Jacob Wilson under team control for a few more years. They are also finally getting riskier by extending Tyler Soderstrom and trading for Jeff McNeil this winter.

The A's also sit in the top half of the league in terms of prospect rankings, including MLB's No. 3 overall prospect in outfielder Leo De Vries. If they wanted to grab Arenado, they easily could've done so.

Seems strange to be addressing an almost trade but that's how the trend of the AL West is going. The Rangers have been mostly standing pat this offseason while the rest of the division gets better and that includes the Athletics.