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Giancarlo Stanton Trade Rumors: Star Will Approve Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs, Astros
December 8, 2017
Miami Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton is refusing to approve a trade to the San Francisco Giants or St. Louis Cardinals, instead preferring to hold out for the Los Angeles Dodgers or New York Yankees to become a serious player.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported the news. Craig Mish of SiriusXM reported the Yankees, Dodgers, Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros are the only teams Stanton is willing to approve.
Stanton, 28, hit .281/.376/.631 with 59 home runs and 132 runs batted in this past season on his way to the National League MVP. His 59 homers were the most since Sammy Sosa hit 61 and Barry Bonds set the single-season record with 73 in 2001.
The Marlins are looking to move Stanton for salary purposes. The slugger has $295 million remaining on his 13-year, $325 million deal he signed in 2015. Miami's new ownership group, spearheaded by former Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, is looking to shed salary as part of a full-scale effort to make the franchise profitable and competitive.
“It’s an organization that’s been losing money for quite some time, so we have to turn that around,” Jeter told reporters last month. “How we do that, it’s not clear.”
Stanton has known he was a likely trade target for months, including the stretch run of his MVP campaign.
"It's an interesting feeling and situation for me,” Stanton told reporters in October. "This is the only place I've known, but I also understand the business part of it and the direction the new ownership wants to go.
"The thoughts [this week] were up and down...Everything that's going on, how is this going to turn out, what's going to happen with my team and my teammates and me, etc. It's a lot of thoughts going on, but luckily I don't have to worry about playing at 7 o'clock every night [with] those thoughts.”
The Giants and Cardinals reportedly have a general framework of a trade agreed upon with Miami, but those deals are contingent on Stanton waiving his no-trade clause. Rosenthal reported it's possible Stanton will add different teams to his list at some point.