Jarrod Ribaudo, New Hampshire: After an MVP season, Marlins superstar Giancarlo Stanton seems to be on the move–but where to?
The MLB offseason so far has been suffocated with news of Giancarlo Stanton. Every second you look, there is a different report on where Stanton wants to go, is going, doesn’t want to go, so on and so forth.
Courtesy USA Today
According to Jon Heyman, about 12 teams have inquired about the biggest Marlin on the trade market–including the St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, and New York Yankees.
Due to the insane amount of money owed to Stanton, the Miami Marlins are trying to ship him off, essentially hitting the reset button on their franchise.
Two years ago, Miami probably wouldn’t have thought about trading Stanton, because they wanted to build around him and their late ace, Jose Fernandez. However, Fernandez’s unfortunate death changed the course of history for the Marlins, so it may be time to restock the farm system with some pitchers in hopes of future contention.
Last season, the Marlins ranked 26th in Major League Baseball with a 4.82 ERA. If you’re new to baseball, that isn’t good at all–and to make it even worse, that is a combined ERA between the bullpen and starting rotation. The starters, led by Dan freakin’ Straily, were significantly worse than their bullpen’s ERA of 4.40, by sporting a 5.12.
People wonder why the Marlins are trying to trade a guy who almost bashed 60 homers in a season, but their rotation does not have much hope surrounding it, and Stanton could help acquire the pitching prospects to potentially propel Miami into playoff contention. Instead of giving up younger guys like Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna, Miami is opting to get rid of the older Stanton (still only 28) because they will be able to get that massive contract off of their hands while still receiving valuable prospects.
Miami will still have a decently young offensive core and way more cash if they give him the boot. They are no where near contention at this point in time, especially with the Washington Nationals in their division– but where is he going to end up?
All along the reports, per Bob Nightengale, have been that the Giants and Cardinals are in the lead for
Courtesy NBC Sports
Stanton. Yet, Jon Heyman also reported that the Cards are interested in Jake Arrieta and Yu Darvish. So the question becomes, would St. Louis rather have Stanton’s big bat or an ace to put at the front of the staff along with Carlos Martinez, because they certainly won’t be able to afford both.
It was also reported by Chad Jennings of the Boston Herald that Stanton won’t accept a trade to St. Louis, but Evan Drellich of NBCS Boston says Stanton hasn’t ruled out any team, and his keeping his options open. Who knows what to believe.
One thing you should believe is the fact that he is definitely being dealt. To where? That is still up for discussion. Yet I believe he is going to end up with either the Cardinals, or his hometown Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Cards have as many assets–if not more–than the reigning National League champs, with pitcher Alex Reyes and a surplus of young outfielders paving the way. Yet where he ends up still really depends on the price tag Miami has put on Stanton. There are too many questions surrounding Miami, Stanton, and the MLB offseason,so buckle up–because the Stanton sweepstakes is just getting started.
