James Shields, Adam LaRoche Signings Would Show Stanton Megadeal Was No Stunt

The ink was hardly dry on Giancarlo Stanton's 13-year, $325 million mega-contract, and already the question on every Miami Marlins fan's lips was: What's next?

Sure, locking up their baseball-crushing right fielder with the largest deal in MLB history was a bold move...and a good start. But if Miami is going to emerge as a true contender in the National League, it'll have to do more. A lot more.

Like, say, making an offer to Adam LaRoche, the best first baseman on the market, per HardballTalk:

Or kicking the tires on James Shields, one of the top free-agent starting pitchers, per FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal:

Neither move is consummated, obviously. We're entering the heart of hot-stove season, when rumors and rumblings blow past like so many autumn leaves.

But the mere fact that the Marlins are being mentioned as a suitor for some of the offseason's biggest fish hints at a renewed commitment to winning.

Not too long ago, that commitment was woefully lacking, and a long-term deal between Miami and Stanton seemed unlikely at best.

In 2012, you'll recall, after the Marlins initiated a salary-dumping swap with the Toronto Blue Jays (unloading shortstop Jose Reyes, ace Josh Johnson, starter Mark Buehrle, infielder Emilio Bonifacio and catcher John Buck for seven much cheaper players), Stanton lowered the Twitter hammer:

His frustration was understandable. Yes, Stanton is just 25, but he's already played five big league seasons—all of them losing campaigns. 

It was beginning to look like Stanton's talents would be squandered as long as he stayed in South Beach. Now that he's agreed to stick it out, it's up to the Marlins to build a team worthy of his elite ability. 

Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

Signing LaRoche and Shields wouldn't make the Marlins instant favorites, and it certainly wouldn't erase doubts about polarizing Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria and the direction of the franchise, which ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick recently spelled out:

"

... [T]he Marlins have ranked last or next-to-last in the NL in attendance in 14 of the past 16 seasons. The only exceptions came in 2004, when they were fresh off a championship and drew 1.7 million, and in 2012, when they cracked 2 million in their Marlins Park debut. Miami isn't a baseball town—or a great sports town, for that matter—and people are no more likely to flock to Marlins Park to see a $30 million-a-year Giancarlo Stanton than they were a $480,000 Stanton or a $5.5 million Stanton.

"

Maybe not. But Loria has promised to "surround [Stanton] with All-Star caliber players," per the Miami Herald. If he puts his money where his mouth is—and that's a definite "if"—it would bolster a club that finished 2014 with a respectable 77-85 record, a 15-game improvement over 2013.

So what about those rumored names? LaRoche is 35, but he belted 26 home runs to go along with 92 RBI and a career-best .362 on-base percentage for the NL East-winning Washington Nationals. 

Shields, meanwhile, is the top free-agent hurler not named Max Scherzer or Jon Lester. The 32-year-old right-hander posted a 3.21 ERA and 1.181 WHIP for the American League champion Kansas City Royals and tossed 227 innings, the eighth straight season he's eclipsed the 200-inning mark. 

LaRoche would slot nicely into the middle of the Marlins' lineup, offering Stanton some much-needed protection. And Shields would anchor a rotation that features an array of talented arms—Henderson Alvarez, Nathan Eovaldi, Jarred Cosart and budding star Jose Fernandez, who could return from Tommy John surgery by midseason, per ESPN.com's Jim Bowden—but no established ace.

Elsa/Associated Press

If the Marlins whiff on these two targets—and given the broad interest both are sure to draw, that's a distinct possibility—expect them to cast their gaze elsewhere.

There are reasons to wonder whether locking up Stanton was the right move—for either side. And there are reasons to doubt the sincerity of Loria, who just two years ago built a shiny new stadium and assembled an expensive roster, then dismantled the whole thing almost immediately.

Something tells us, though, that this is the offseason the Fish make another splash, if only to prove the Stanton signing was more than simply a stunt.

All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.