GIANCARLO’S Latest Yank star NEW WORLD! eager to reach Series, takes cuts at Marlins
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Giancarlo Stanton has left the circus and joined the Evil Empire — hopeful of putting the Yankees over-the-top and delivering the franchise its 28th World Series title. In his first news conference since waiving his no-trade clause to facilitate a blockbuster deal to the Bronx Bombers, Stanton, who will wear jersey No. 27, expressed a willingness to handle the pressure that comes with playing in New York. “That’s what I’ve always dreamed of,” Stanton said on Monday after the massive move became official. “You always want to be in competitive games that mean something, and your performance means something to the team and the city. It’s going to be a fun challenge, and I’m looking forward to it.”
Stanton, 28, has 10 years and $295 million remaining on his record-breaking 13-year, $325 million contract. He can opt out following the 2020 season, but said he expects to be a Yankee for the next decade.
The Bombers acquired the reigning NL MVP from Derek Jeter and the desperate Marlins in exchange for Starlin Castro, prospects Jorge Guzman and Jose Devers, and $30 million. Stanton, who led the majors in homers last season (59), said he’s open to play any position, whether that’s right field, left field or designated hitter.
“Just watching them from afar, seeing their young, dynamic group the way they flow together on the field, how they never give up, never quit, the atmosphere, the storied franchise,” Stanton replied when asked why he decided to accept the deal. “There’s not much you can say about why you wouldn’t want to be there. They’re for sure on the list of where I want to be.”
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Bombers are the second team in MLB history to acquire the league’s top home-run hitter after leading the majors in homers (241) the previous year. The 6-foot-6 Stanton will be teaming up with 6-foot-7 Aaron Judge, forming a towering slugging duo reminiscent of Ruth and Gehrig and Mantle and Marris. Stanton and Judge
combined for 111 homers in 2017.
“We’re excited to get better and use our talents together because we’re very similar,” said Stanton, who spoke to Judge a couple days ago. “And we’re going to learn from each other and make each other better.”
The deal stunned the baseball world.
The Yankees and Marlins briefly engaged on Stanton during the GM Meetings, but the Bombers were focused mainly on adding the Babe Ruth of Japan, Shohei Otani, the 23-year-old two-way star who they hoped would pitch and hit in the Bronx. But Otani ruled out the Yankees, who want to get under the $197 million luxury-tax threshold, early in the process, forcing the team to go in another direction. Enter Stanton. His relationship with the rebuilding Marlins had clearly eroded, as evidenced by him calling them an “unprofessional circus” in an Instagram post on Monday after the trade had become official. And they weren’t in a position to add pitching to their roster, as he had hoped they would when Jeter took over the franchise.
So Stanton gave Miami a list of four teams he would accept a trade to — the Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs and Astros — but the Marlins, who are reportedly $400 million in debt, reached deals with the Cardinals and Giants instead, hoping the four-time All-Star would go to those destinations. They even threatened Stanton that he would be a Marlin throughout the entirety of his contract if he didn’t accept. But Stanton called their bluff, invoking his notrade clause and paving the way for a deal to the Bronx.
“You’re not going to force me to do anything, regardless of what the situation is,” said Stanton, who added that he didn’t get a phone call or text from Jeter before everything went down.
“It’s fine. All the negative aspects and the negative media I’ve had to deal with, anything successful thing I’ve ever done is in the past. Now I can go to the something positive.”
Last Wednesday, Brian Cashman felt like this wasn’t going to happen. But a day later, things changed, as the two sides reengaged on various iterations. By Thursday, an agreement was in place.
Stanton’s agent, Joel Wolfe, told him to sleep on it just to make sure this is where he wanted to go. But Stanton didn’t need to do that whatsoever.
On Friday night, after telling Wolfe yes, Stanton flew to Tampa to undergo a physical on Saturday. Two days later, Stanton was putting on a Yankees jersey and cap at the Walt Disney World Dolphin hotel, where the Winter Meetings are taking place.
Hal Steinbrenner said there was some concern about the amount of remaining money owed, but it’s his goal to try to win a World Series in 2018. So the Bombers will assume the risks of Stanton’s injury history and his back-loaded deal to try and make that happen.
“He’s a very special player,” Steinbrenner said. “So when Cash came to me and told me that there was at least a possibility we were all over it.”
It made for a thrilled Stanton, who joined what Cashman called his group of “Merry Men.” The Yankees GM even called Judge before the trade was consummated.
Judge, the AL Rookie of the Year and runner-up for AL MVP, told Cashman he was “pumped.”
“It’s a huge commitment,” Cashman said. “He’s a big-time player. I certainly wasn’t approaching the winter expecting to be talking about something like this, but we’re excited where we are.”