Cool it on Stanton deal
But Dombro knows club needs big bat
ORLANDO, Fla. — From the sound of things in sunny Florida, it might be time to rain on the Red Sox’ offseason parade. At least when it comes to the biggest name on everyone’s mind at this year’s general managers meetings.
Don’t expect Giancarlo Stanton to end up at Fenway Park next season.
While the Red Sox have been one of the teams most often linked to the massive Marlins slugger, there are too many roadblocks to consider them favorites for such a blockbuster trade.
One of those barriers is Stanton’s contract. Not only the $295 million he’s owed the next 10 years, but also the full no-trade clause that gives the right fielder total control of his ultimate destination.
A baseball source said yesterday that he’s been told Stanton will not accept a trade to either the Red Sox or the Cardinals, another team linked early and often in trade rumors. Perhaps there’s some flexibility in that stance, but Stanton’s preference is a factor.
As is the Red Sox’ ability to make such a deal. Trading for Chris Sale, Craig Kimbrel, Drew Pomeranz and Tyler Thornburg has left the minor league system relatively bare, and their best remaining trade chips are Rafael Devers and Andrew Benintendi, two players the ballclub would like to keep in the lineup.
“We have to be careful at some point,” president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said. “We’ve traded a lot of young guys. We’re trying to rebuild our system a little bit at the same time the last couple of years with our draft picks. I think we’ve started that process pretty well. We do have some guys that are close. … But you have to be careful in that regard, and I do think that we have a lot of good players already, that are really good, that you’re trying to supplement or complement and find the right guys. I’m not really looking to trade a bunch of young guys. Now, could we? Perhaps. Again, I can’t tell you that we won’t.”
Of course he can’t. Dombrowski can’t say much this time of year. He acknowledged only that he’s met with several agents and multiple teams, getting a sense of both the trade and free agent markets. New manager Alex Cora sat in on some of those meetings, adding his two cents to the possibilities and opportunities.
Dombrowski knows he needs a bat, and everyone knows the Marlins need to dump salary. That’s why Stanton-to-Boston rumors felt so juicy in the first place. But without need to avoid the luxury tax, the Red Sox are better positioned to make noise in free agency, especially if they’re willing to spend heavily on the market’s best free agent bat: J.D. Martinez.
He’s no Stanton, but Martinez did hit 45 home runs in 2017, and he had a .936 OPS the past four seasons. That’s only .003 points behind Stanton.
The fact Martinez is an outfielder to a team full of them isn’t a significant issue because Dombrowski said he’s convinced Hanley Ramirez can play first base again next season, as opposed to being limited to DH duty for almost all of 2017.
“Just last week, really, that was a topic of conversation for us,” he said. “We can count on him to play first base for us like he did in 2016.”
If Ramirez, who underwent shoulder surgery last month, can play first base, then the Red Sox need not worry about a position. They simply need a bat, and Martinez is the best one available on the free agent market. If the Red Sox could afford to eat most of Stanton’s contract, they could surely afford whatever outrageous sum of money Martinez is going to demand.
That said, it’s still mid-November. There’s nothing set in stone at this point. Opinions could change, markets could shift, and 28-year-old wunderkinds could decide they’d love to spend the next decade playing at Fenway. But as the rumor mill began brewing outside the Waldorf Astoria yesterday, the smarter money was on the Red Sox finding a big bat elsewhere.
“For me, my job is simple here,” Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill said. “For the first time this offseason, I’m with my peers, and it’s an opportunity to visit with them and get an idea what their plans are moving forward, and see if we match up on anything, and if there’s an opportunity for us to get better.”
That’s what everyone is looking for this time of year: a better opportunity.
“I think it’s more information so far at this time,” Dombrowski said. “We had some nice conversations, but I would say nothing that is alarming. But also, when you get to this time of year, you never can tell what takes place.”
Never can tell, but the early guess? Stanton ends up elsewhere.