Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
MARLINS AGREE TO TRADE STANTON TO YANKEES
Marlins, Yankees have Stanton deal
The Miami Marlins agreed Saturday to trade Giancarlo Stanton, the National League MVP, to the New York Yankees for Starlin Castro and two prospects, sources told the Sun Sentinel. In one of his first major decisions as CEO, retired Yankees legend Derek Jeter traded perhaps the best player in team history in what is largely a salary dump. The trade was not officially announced Saturday; Stanton had to take a physical and was expected to formally waive his no-trade clause. But his departure was necessary, columnist Dave Hyde writes.
Giancarlo Stanton is about to be a former Miami Marlin.
The Marlins agreed Saturday to trade Stanton, the NL MVP, to the New York Yankees for second baseman Starlin Castro and two low-level prospects, sources told the Sun Sentinel. It’s their most franchise-altering and controversial move under new CEO Derek Jeter and chairman/principal owner Bruce Sherman.
Put another way: In one of his first major decisions as the boss, Jeter — a retired Yankees legend — traded perhaps the best player in Marlins history to his old team in what is largely a salary-dump move.
The trade was not officially announced Saturday. Stanton needed to take a physical and was expected to formally waive his no-trade clause, which gave him significant say throughout this saga.
The Marlins dealt from a position of weakness. Debt-ridden and looking to cut payroll for 2018 and beyond, Miami, which finished with a 77-85 record last season, prioritized shedding as much of the $295 million Stanton is owed over the next decade as possible. The enormity of Stanton’s contract combined with his notrade clause left the team with little leverage in negotiations with other clubs.
Trading Stanton is mostly a cost-cutting measure for Marlins. He starts to make his big money this season, when his salary jumps to $25 million. He is due to make at least that much every year for the next 10, but can opt out of his contract after the 2020 season. He signed a 13-year, $325 million contract in November 2014, when Jeffrey Loria owned the team.
As they reshape their roster — and the organization — under Jeter’s leadership, the financially challenged Marlins decided doing so with the heavy burden of Stanton’s deal was unworkable. More deals of the Marlins’ best players are possible and even likely as the annual Winter Meetings begin Monday in Lake Buena Vista.
The Yankees will be on the hook for $265 million of the $295 million left on Stanton’s deal, according to multiple reports. The Marlins included $30 million to assuage the Yankees’ luxury-tax concerns.
Castro, who was an AllStar for a fourth time 2017, could slot in at second as a replacement for Dee Gordon, who was traded to the Mariners on Thursday. Alternatively, the Marlins could also seek to trade Castro, who has two years and $22 million left on his contract.
Last season, Castro hit .300 with a .338 OBP and .454 slugging percentage. He also had 16 homers and 63 RBI in 112 games.
The prospects Miami will receive, right-hander Jorge Guzman and shortstop Jose Devers, are years away from reaching the majors, if they ever do. The lack of a high-end return underscores the Marlins’ money motivation and little negotiating power.
One advantage the Marlins had in settling on a couple of lesser-known Yankees minor leaguers: several new high-ranking members of the front office have a deep knowledge of New York’s farm system. Most notably, Gary Denbo is the Marlins’ vice president of player development and scouting after serving in a similar role with the Yankees in recent years.
Guzman, 21, is a flamethrower with a high ceiling, but has never pitched in a full minor league season. With the Yankees’ ShortSeason A affiliate in 2017, he had a 2.30 ERA and 1.04 WHIP, plus 88 strikeouts (to 18 walks) in 66 innings. His fastball is well above average — regularly reaching 100 mph — but his slider and changeup are works in progress.
MLB Pipeline had Guzman as the Yankees’ ninthbest prospect. In the Marlins’ system, he will rank at or near the top. Guzman is said to be a favorite of Denbo’s.
Devers, the cousin of Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers, turned 18 this week and spent most of 2017 with the Yankees’ rookie-level GCL team. Listed at 6-foot and 155 pounds, Devers slashed .246/.359/.348 in 42 games. MLB Pipeline did not rank him among the Yankees’ top 30 minor leaguers.
New York, meanwhile, pairs Stanton with Home Run Derby winner Aaron Judge, arguably the two premier power bats in baseball, in an already-deep lineup. As a rookie in 2017, Judge hit 52 homers, second in the majors behind only Stanton (59). The Yankees’ season ended in Game 7 of the ALCS, one win shy of the World Series.
Stanton’s fate over the past month-plus became one of the top two storylines of baseball’s offseason (alongside the arrival of two-way Japanese star Shohei Ohtani, who signed with the Los Angeles Angels on Friday). The Marlins discussed Stanton with a reported eight clubs and had agreements this week with San Francisco and St. Louis, long seen as the most likely destinations. But when Stanton did not waive his no-trade clause to go to those teams, they both announced Friday they were moving on.
Stanton is only the second player in major league history to win league MVP and be traded in the same offseason. The other: 2003 AL MVP Alex Rodriguez also joined the Yankees (from the Texas Rangers) that winter.
The finalization of this trade will mark the end of an era for the Marlins and for Stanton, who last month was the first player in franchise history to be named league MVP.
Stanton came to the Florida Marlins in 2007 via the draft, when they picked him in the second round out of Notre Dame High in Sherman Oaks, Calif., outside Los Angeles.
Stanton leaves the Miami Marlins a decade later with a strong case as their best player ever.
In between, Stanton became a major leaguer at age 20, built a reputation for moonshots, signed the largest contract in North American professional sports history, was a fourtime All-Star, won a Home Run Derby, and suffered a litany of injuries that limited him to one full season until 2017.
Then, this past year, Stanton maintained his most critical variable: health. At age 27 — he turned 28 last month — he finally put it all together, leading the majors with 59 homers and 132 RBI while playing in a careerhigh 159 games to earn the game’s top individual honor.
Still, it wasn’t enough for the Marlins, who finished with a losing record in all eight of Stanton’s major league seasons. Sherman and Jeter officially took over the team the day after the season ended, when Stanton said if the new owners want to rebuild, “I wouldn’t want to do that.”
On the Marlins’ all-time leaderboards, Stanton is first in home runs (267), RBI (672), slugging percentage (.554), FanGraphs’ WAR (34.1), Baseball Reference’s WAR (35.1) and strikeouts (1,140). He is also second in walk percentage (11.8 percent) and walks (487); third in runs scored (576), games played (986), plate appearances (4,120) and doubles (202); fifth in hits (960); and ninth in OBP (.360).
Stanton’s final moments in a Marlins uniform were tender ones. Before the ninth inning of the team’s season finale, Stanton huddled in the outfield with his fellow outfielders, Marcell Ozuna and Christian Yelich, knowing it might be their final time on the field together.
After his last at-bat, a swinging strikeout, he received a standing ovation — rare for any Miami player — from fans at Marlins Park. From the top of the dugout, Stanton tapped his heart and pointed to the crowd.