Giancarlo Stanton is coming off a season in which he led the NL in WAR and the MLB in HR, RBI, and Slugging %, ultimately going on to top Joey Votto and Paul Goldschmidt in the NL MVP voting. Now how the MVP voting went is a debatable and controversial topic. What could end up being more interesting than the voting itself, though, is Stanton’s trade rumors.
If Giancarlo is traded, he will be the second player in modern baseball history to be traded in the offseason after winning an MVP. In 2004, Alex Rodriguez was headed to the Red Sox until the league canned that deal with concerns about his contract. Following that, the Yankees dealt Alfonso Soriano and Joaquin Arias to the Rangers for Rodriguez. A-Rod won the 2003 MVP before being traded to the Yankees with the intention of getting rid of his 10 year $250 Million contract from the Rangers. Stanton on the other hand is on the block because ever since Derek Jeter and company took over in Miami, they’ve had a clear vision of cutting payroll and starting from the ground up….and that includes looking to ship Giancarlo and his $325 Million out of Miami. Ironically enough, the Yankees are one of the teams who have asked about Stanton and his asking price.
Giancarlo has submitted the teams that he would waive his no trade clause for if Miami works out a deal with them. The Marlins have already received formal offers from the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants. The Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, and the National League Champion LA Dodgers are the other teams that have been identified as suitors.
MLB’s Winter Meetings in Orlando are coming up soon, December 10th-14th. Expect to see nonstop updates and notifications on the Stanton trade front all week.
