Marlins

Miami slugger Giancarlo Stanton’s future is everyone’s focus at the GM meetings.

ORLANDO — Where will Giancarlo Stanton play in 2018?

Nobody knows, but that question is at the heart of this week’s General Managers Meetings, which opened today at the Waldorf Astoria luxury hotel.

For Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill and his fellow decisionmakers around the game, this week marks their first opportunity of the offseason to meet in person to discuss each other’s needs and potential deals.

The Marlins, who with a new ownership group led by CEO Derek Jeter are expected to cut payroll, have many possible paths this winter. Most involve trading Stanton, who led the majors with 59 homers and 132 RBI in 2017 but is owed $25 next season and $295 million over the next decade.

“With the whole trade process, there’s rumors out there, and there’s a lot of them,” Hill said. “I didn’t speak to the media until last week and he’s been traded 15 million times.”

Hill spoke to a rotating cast of more than a dozen reporters in a setting unique to the GM meetings: the heads of baseball operations for all 30 teams available to the media simultaneously. Hill’s crowd was among the largest, rivaling that of several big-market GMs, a sign of wider baseball interest in Miami’s goings-on in the coming weeks and months.

“I’m not sure what the future holds,” Hill said, staying true to form and revealing little of note. “I’ve said from the beginning we need to get better. We need to build a sustainable organization.”

Here’s what we do know: Various reports over the weekend said the Giants, Cardinals, Red Sox and Phillies had preliminary discussions with the Marlins about Stanton. Stanton, who has a no-trade clause, holds considerable influence over the process. Hill said he has an idea where Stanton would be willing to go.

“I do have a sense, and we’ll keep that internal,” Hill said. “At the appropriate time, we’ll discuss whatever we need to discuss.”

Hill suggested he and the cohort of Marlins executives with him will spend considerable time Monday night through Wednesday meeting with his counterparts as organizations’ winter plans become more concrete. So, too, should team’s offers for Stanton.

This is the time of year when many teams will check in — doing their due diligence — so the purported cast of organizations looking at Stanton could be wider than the popular quartet from recent reports.

Among the dynamics in play: whether the Marlins prioritize shedding Stanton’s salary (thus limiting the quality of a player package coming to Miami) or would be willing to pay some of what Stanton is owed for a higher-quality return.

Hill declined to say which the Marlins preferred — and, in the end, it might not matter depending on Stanton’s preferences.

And then there’s the idea that Stanton isn’t traded at all.

“I’d say that’s definitely a possibility,” Hill said. “That’s why I don’t like to chase rumors or comment on rumors and keep everything internal, because you never know how things are going to play out.”

The personal touch

Before the Marlins declined outfielder Ichiro Suzuki’s $2 million team option this month, Hill and Jeter — Ichiro’s former Yankees teammate — visited Ichiro in person to tell him of the their decision.

“[Ichiro] was very happy to see his old teammate and we thanked him for everything he’d done for the organization,” Hill said. “Just thought it was only right we did it in person, to let him know we weren’t going to exercise the option.”

Asked why the Marlins didn’t want to bring the 44-year-old Ichiro back, Hill didn’t get specific.

“I think just where we were at, I don’t think we were prepared to commit to Ichiro,” Hill said.

JOHN RAOUX/AP Michael Hill, president of baseball operations for the Miami Marlins, says he has an idea which teams Giancarlo Stanton would be willing to accept a trade. Stanton has a notrade clause in his contract.