Sources: Marlins trading Stanton to Yankees
MIAMI — After helping the New York Yankees to five World Series titles during his playing days, Derek Jeter might help them win another as a baseball executive for a different franchise.
The Yankees and the Miami Marlins have agreed to a trade that would send 2017 National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton to New York, pending a physical, a person familiar with the negotiations said Saturday. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the teams hadn’t announced the agreement.
Jeter, who retired from baseball in 2014 after spending his 20-year major league career with the Yankees, became a part owner of the Marlins and the franchise’s CEO this fall.
Second baseman Starlin Castro would go to Miami as part of the trade, a second person familiar with the negotiations said. A third person said the Marlins would also receive prospects Jorge Guzman, a right-handed pitcher, and infielder Jose Devers. The third person also said the deal calls for the Marlins to send $30 million to the Yankees if Stanton doesn’t exercise his right to opt out of his contract and become a free agent after the 2020 season.
Stanton has a no-trade clause in his record $325 million, 13-year contract and has indicated he will approve the trade, one of the people said. St. Louis and San Francisco said Friday that Stanton had vetoed deals to them.
As for the physical, injuries curtailed Stanton’s season four of the past six years, but he played 159 games in 2017.
If the Yankees complete the trade with a team run by their former captain, the Bronx Bombers would acquire a slugger who hit an MLB-best 59 home runs in 2017 and pair him with Aaron Judge, who led the American League with 52 in his rookie season this year. That would give them a onetwo punch at the plate to rival Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig or Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, making for must-see batting practice.
Obtaining the 28-year-old Stanton, who also led the majors with 132 RBIs this year, would be reminiscent of the Yankees’ acquisition of AL MVP Alex Rodriguez from Texas after the 2003 season for second baseman Alfonso Soriano. Rodriguez signed a $275 million, 10-year contract after the 2007 season that ran through age 42; Stanton’s deal runs through age 38.
An eight-year veteran with 267 home runs, Stanton has never played on a winning team and might now go to a club that hasn’t had a losing record since 1992. The Yankees reached Game 7 of the AL Championship Series in October to cap the first full year of a youth movement for the organization.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone, hired this month, and the front office would have to sort out where Stanton will play. He has played his whole big league career in right field — Judge’s position — so one of them might be moved to designated hitter.
Stanton is owed $295 million over the final decade of his record $325 million, 13-year contract. His salary will rise to $25 million in 2018.
Jeter is expected to reduce payroll by at least 20 percent to $90 million or less. The Marlins shed $38 million of salary through 2020 by trading twotime All-Star second baseman Dee Gordon to the Seattle Mariners for three prospects this past week.
Castro, who hit .300 with 16 home runs this year, could replace Gordon at second base — or might also be dealt by Miami because of his contract. He’s due $10 million in 2018 and $11 million in 2019, plus a $16 million club option for 2020 with a $1 million buyout.