Where in the World Is Giancarlo Stanton Going?
After winning the National League MVP Award in one of the tightest votes in recent memory, the one question on everyone’s mind about Giancarlo Stanton isn’t what changes he made this year or whether he can repeat the performance next year. The question is where will he be playing next season?
At this point no one knows the answer to that question. Not Stanton. Not the Marlins. And certainly not me. But I am not going to let that stop me from speculation about where he could end up.
In addition to his almost unequaled power, Stanton also has an almost unequaled contract. 10 more years for almost $300 million. That pretty much eliminates half the league from even considering a trade, because regardless of how much of that the Marlins would be willing to eat, there would still be a lot to pay.
Stanton has an opt-out in the contract after three more years, which seems likely he would take if he stays healthy. Most of his injuries over the years have been of the fluke variety, so it seems reasonable he’d make it another three years. He also has a full no-trade clause. While this may have been a bad choice by Marlins management when giving Stanton the biggest contract in league history, it has worked out well for Stanton because now he can make sure he doesn’t get traded from the losing environment of the Marlins to some other team’s losing environment.
Alright, so where does that leave us? There’s the usual suspects when it comes to acquiring big contracts: the Dodgers, Red Sox, Yankees and Cubs. All four of these teams have the financial resources and the minor league prospects or young, cheap major league players to make this work.
And let’s be clear, Stanton is in a class by himself in terms of available players this off-season, so it’s going to cost the acquiring team prospects and picking up most or all of that contract.
The Red Sox have already been mentioned in the trade buzz around Stanton. The other two most frequently mentioned teams are the Cardinals and the Giants. Yes, the Giants team that just barely missed 100 losses on the season while also having one of the highest payrolls in baseball.
My guess is that it will come down to the Red Sox and the Cardinals. No matter how much these teams have to pay, the real winners will be baseball fans around the country who can see Stanton competing in meaningful games and even make it to the World Series.
