Marlins have Stanton on the market

ORLANDO, FLA. » For sale: 28-year-old chiseled slugger who led the major leagues with 59 home runs, the most in 16 years.

Price: $295 million over a decade.

Complication: Giancarlo Stanton only goes where he wants to, since the star right fielder has a full notrade provision.

Now under a new ownership group that put former New York Yankees star Derek Jeter in charge of baseball and business operations, the Miami Marlins have concluded their payroll-paring regime is willing to explore trades of Stanton and other highpriced players.

“I think over the next few days I’ll get a feel for what the marketplace is for our players,” Marlins president of baseball operations Mike Hill said Monday, the opening day of the annual general managers’ meetings.

Miami had a $116 million payroll on Aug. 31, up from $81 million at the end of last year. Bruce Sherman’s group bought the team on Oct. 2 from Jeffrey Loria and is exploring trades for players who contributed to the team’s eighth straight losing season. The Marlins have not made the playoffs since winning the 2003 World Series, the second-longest postseason drought behind Seattle.

Stanton’s salary jumps from $14.5 million this year to $25 million next season. It peaks at $32 million annually from 2023-25.

When he spoke Oct. 25 at the World Series while receiving an award, Stanton said he didn’t have “stamped-out ideas” whether he would want to stay in Miami during a rebuild. The Marlins seem to know which teams he would accept a trade to.

JOHN RAOUX — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Michael Hill, president of baseball operations for the Miami Marlins, talks with members of the media at the annual baseball general managers’ meetings, Monday in Orlando, Fla.