Stanton trade: Yanks, Marlins said to agree on terms.
After helping the New York Yankees to five World Series titles, Derek Jeter might help them win more.
The Yankees and Jeter’s Miami Marlins have agreed to a trade that would send NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton to New York, pending a physical, several people familiar with the negotiations said Saturday.
Second baseman Starlin Castro would go to Miami as part of the trade, and the Marlins would also receive prospects Jorge Guzman, a righthander, and Jose Devers, an infielder who is a cousin of Boston prospect Rafael Devers.
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, 13year contract and has indicated he will approve the trade. The Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals said Friday that Stanton had vetoed deals to them.
As for the physical, injuries curtailed Stanton’s season in four of the past six years, but he played a career-high 159 games in 2017 and led the majors with 59 homers and 132 RBIs.
If the Yankees complete the trade with Jeter, their former captain who is now the Marlins’ CEO, the Bronx Bombers would pair Stanton with Aaron Judge, who led the AL with 52 homers in his rookie season. That would give them a one-two punch to rival Ruth-Gehrig or MantleMaris, making for must-see batting practice.
Judge sent a tweet to Stanton showing a clip from the movie “Step Brothers” with Will Ferrell saying, “Did we just become best friends?”
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 this season in the first full year of a youth movement. Ohtani introduced: The Angels introduced Shohei Ohtani, one day after the franchise won the baseball-wide competition for his services.
A lively crowd gathered in front of Angel Stadium cheered when Ohtani, 23, donned a red No. 17 jersey and hat on stage with team owner Arte Moreno, manager Mike Scioscia and general manager Billy Eppler.
Ohtani doesn’t speak much English yet, but he stepped to the podium and addressed the fans confidently: “Hi. My name is Shohei Ohtani.”
Ohtani already knows how to work a crowd, too. Asked whether he was more excited to get his first pitching victory or his first homer in the big leagues, he said through a translator, “Hopefully, if I can pull it off, maybe both in one game.”
The former Japanese MVP is attempting to become the majors’ most significant two-way player in several decades. Ohtani is expected to join the Angels’ rotation next season, and he will be their designated hitter on many days when he isn’t pitching, Scioscia said.
“I just felt a strong connection with the Angels,” Ohtani said through a translator.
Rangers sign Dominican prospect: After losing out on Ohtani, the Texas Rangers signed 17-year-old free-agent shortstop Yenci Pena of the Dominican Republic, one of the players taken from the Braves as punishment for circumventing international signing rules.