Posted on 12/09/2017 10:17:55 AM PST by TBP
It would appear that the Giancarlo Stanton saga has come to a close. The Yankees are set to acquire the 2017 NL MVP from the Marlins in exchange for infielder Starlin Castro and two prospects in the lower levels of New York’s minor league system. The Marlins will also send the Yankees $30MM in cash if Stanton does not opt out of his contract after the 2020 season. The deal is still pending a physical.
Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports was the first to report that a deal was in place, while Joel Sherman of the New York Post mentioned earlier that a deal was “virtually in place”, while adding that Castro would be part of the deal. While some other cash numbers were mentioned by some reporters earlier in the day, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic was the first to mention the $30MM figure that has since been confirmed by Morosi as well as Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Credit goes to Sherman for the report that the prospects involved are in the low minors, as well as the report that the Yankees will only get the cash if Stanton doesn’t opt out after 2020.
While there was initially some uncertainty surrounding whether or not Stanton would waive his no-trade clause, that dissolved when Heyman reported that Stanton was on his way to New York City for his physical.
Can you imagine Stanton and Judge in the same lineup? Just wow! Maris and Mantle? Who are they? Of course, it does bring up luxury tax concerns, so I expect more moves from the Yankees.
It's also full of odd coincidences. Fourteen years ago, a righthanded power hitter was coming off his age 27 season. He had three years left to his opt-out. He had the biggest contract in baseball history at the time.
T?he player was involved in a trade that fell through, and no one expected the Yankees to go after him because they already had a star -- their best player -- at his position. But he wound up becoming a Yankee.
His team got a young major league infielder (the Yankees' secondbaseman) for him, along with minor league talent.
All of those circumstances parallel Stanton today.
That player was Alex Rodriguez. The player he changed positions to accommodate was Derek Jeter, now president of the Marlins and head of their baseball operations. The player Rodriguez replaced as the Yankees' 3B? Aaron Boone, now the new manager of the Yankees.
Oh, and that 2003 season was the last time the Marlins went to the playoffs. They won the World Series. Against the Yankees, who had been propelled to that series by the extra-inning, game-ending homerun by Boone.
Baseball is a funny game.
What else do you expect from the Brinx Bombers? When you can’t win a title, buy one. That’s always been their m.o.
Yes, Judge and Stanton make a formidable middle but pitching is what wins championships. Even the Astros figured that out.
Big mistake. Didn’t they learn anything from having to keep Alex Rodriguez on the payroll at a huge amount of money for years and years?
The Yankees, as a result of this deal, are in the hunt for a World Series win in 2018-2020.
REALLY. are you a Marxist? The deep Yankees farm system has developed so many great players. Unfortunately they will be trading one of the great baby bombers, Starlin Castro to get Stanton. But equitable none the less
Bronx Bombers 2.0. I’m not much of a baseball fan but that might be fun to watch.
“Didn’t they learn anything from having to keep Alex Rodriguez on the payroll at a huge amount of money for years and years?”
ARod remained productive at the plate until his suspension.
There was not a pitcher in the AL that did not fear him.
At 696 HR he is 4th on the all time list. He had a career .295 BA and was MVP 3 times.
With 14 All Star appearances and 10 gold gloves.
He was, without doubt, the best player in baseball when the Yankees picked him up, and remained so for 10 of the 12 years he was there.
The Steinbrenner boys are not like their father. They don’t throw money around. They’re much more reliant on young talent and a much lower payroll than The Boss tended to maintain.
The Yankees are still under the luxury tax threshold. Despite Stanton’s humongous contract, when you see the Harper and Machado potential payouts next offseason, this deal looks financially responsible.
Stanton already vetoed trades to the Giants and Cardinals. (They were willing to take on his salary, but he wasn’t willing to go there.) Stanton, who has a full no-trade, told the Marlins in the wake of those two deals that there were only four clubs he’d accept: the Dodgers, Yankees, Astros, and Cubs. The Dodgers are north of $250 million in payroll, so their interest was kind of tepid — although they were in it. The Cubs and Astros didn’t seem that active.
The Yankees got within one game of the World Series with the club they had. When you’re a contender who came that close and a player of this caliber, a potential difference maker, comes along, you would be irresponsible not to make the deal if you can manage to afford it. Including Castro makes it affordable for the Yankees.
With Castro off the books, they can absorb Stanton’s salary and still have room under the tax threshold. (This year, it’s $197 million.) By my calculations, they still have about 10-12 million of room before they hit it. And they’ll move Ellsbury if they can — not just to shed a big contract ($21.5 million this year), but because he’s surplus. (They have Gardner, Hicks, Judge, Stanton, Clint Frazier, Tyler Austin, Billy McKinney, and others, in addition to Ellsbury.) Chase Headley could be moved, as well. Make room for the young talent — Gleyber Torres, Miguel Andujar, Tyler Wade, etc.
Yankee Stadium will be good for Stanton. even with the fences pulled in a couple of years ago, Marlins Park is a cavern. both foul lines are shorter at Yankee Stadium, and the ballpark is usually pretty full, as opposed to the fairly empty Marlins Park.
Reportedly, the prospects are from the loser levels of the Yankees’ system. but it’s a deep system.
The fans in Miami are apparently angry, and I don’t blame them, but this is what the Marlins had to do. they’er $400 million in debt, thanks to the previous owners. Stanton and the Yankees couldn’t be a more perfect marriage, unless Stanton were a lefty hitter — but Greg Bird and Didi Gregorius have that covered.
Considering almost their entire team is homegrown, I am not sure that is remotely true. They went to the AL championship this led by a young team from their farm system.
Stanton will be 37 at the end of his contract, assuming he doesn’t opt out. He’s not a steroid user (as far as we know) and he’s in prime physical shape. He and Judge could be the new M&M.
If the Yankees win a World Series or two with Giancarlo Stanton in their uniform, it’s worth it. This could be the guy who turns a good team into a great one.
Typical Marlins. They let Beckett and Cabrera go. Now Stanton. They wonder why they have no fans. They have no commitment to winning.
“and he’s in prime physical shape”
And injury prone.
That often leads to doping.
He played no more than 123 games in 5 of the 6 previous seasons to last year.
Yes, it’s unfortunate to see Starlin Castro go — although he is neither homegrown nor a “Baby Bomber.” He is about the same age as Stanton, and he was acquired from the Cubs at the Winter Meetings two years ago for Adam Warren (since reacquired) and Brendan Ryan.
The biggest concern in trading Castro is who plays second base. Castro was the first stable 2B the Yankees have had since Cano left. I suspect that they use a platoon of Ronald Torreyes and Tyler Wade until Gleyber Torres is ready.
BTW, I wouldn’t be surprised, considering that Cstro makes almost $11 million this year (and going up), if the Fish flip him for more prospects. There are three or four teams looking for a secondbaseman. OTOH, the Marlins just traded theirs.
That’s partly because of getting hit in the face, leading to a concussion.
Tigers end up paying this guy 400M-500M + dollars over the life of his contract(2025?), and for that they got some(until last season)nice regular season production that mostly didn't carry over into the post season, getting drunk/fight with his wife the night before one of their biggest games...and perhaps more than anything...(rumored to be)a clubhouse cancer who's been injury ridden the last few years.
Now Tigers are in a rebuild after (late)owner spent hundreds of millions trying to BE the Marlins(get Dombrowski/Leyland, buy a bunch of expensive players, win a WS, get rid of them).
FAIL!...and a very expensive/costly(decimated farm system)one.
As Scooter would say, “Holy Cow!” With Stanton, Judge and Sanchez, the Yanks are going to win a lot of games with double-digit scores.
Hi M. I believe Alex only won 2, (or maybe 3), Gold Glove awards at the most iirc.
Stanton wasn't a free agent. In fact the Marlins had to pays the Yanks 30 million.
I have to wonder why Jeter would invest in a team that can't afford to keep their best players.
And Boston’s rotation has three southpaws: Chris Sale, David Price, and Eduardo Rodriguez. I’m sure they’re looking forward to facing Stanton, Judge, and Sanchez.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.