THE NEWEST YANKEE
The National League home run champ, Giancarlo Stanton, was introduced Monday as the newest member of the Yankees.
Derek Jeter says when his ownership group took over the Miami Marlins in October, he thought Giancarlo Stanton would be with the team in 2018.
Stanton is vehemently countering that by saying Marlins officials threatened to keep him for the rest of his career.
In the end, Miami dealt the National League MVP to the New York Yankees. The trade was made because Stanton didn’t want to be part of the Marlins’ latest rebuilding, Jeter said Monday.
Jeter said the deal with his former team was the best one available to the Marlins, giving them muchneeded financial flexibility and upgrading a weak farm system. The Marlins’ new CEO made his comments shortly before Stanton held a news conference at baseball’s winter meetings in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, to discuss a trade being celebrated in New York but panned by beleaguered Marlins fans.
Jeter wants to reduce his revenue-starved franchise’s payroll by at least 20 percent to $90 million or less, and Stanton will make $25 million next year. But trading him wasn’t a given, Jeter said.
“I told him, ‘When we acquired this team, our thoughts were that you were going to be with us,’” Jeter said. “I relayed to him we wanted him to be a part of the organization, but it’s his choice. He said he wanted to move on. There were three great options for him, and he chose
which one he wanted to go to.”
Stanton had a no-trade clause in his record $325 million, 13-year contract, for which he is owed $295 million over the next 10 seasons. Last week he turned down prospective trades to St. Louis and the Giants before accepting the Yankees’ deal.
At Stanton’s news conference, the All-Star right fielder confirmed he opted to move on from Miami in a meeting with Jeter.
“We spoke about the direction of the team,” Stanton said. “I wanted us to go forward. I thought our lineup was legit, and we needed help with our pitchers, and we needed to add rather than subtract. The way they wanted to go was to subtract. So I let that be known that I didn’t want to be part of another rebuild, another losing season, and that’s almost a guaranteed losing season.”
Stanton never played on a winning team in eight years with the Marlins, and
he said they threatened to keep him for the rest of his career if he didn’t accept a trade to the Cardinals or Giants. But he wasn’t swayed.
“It doesn’t matter what the dynamic was,” he said. “You’re not going to force me to do anything.”
Stanton said he considered the threat both unfair and demeaning.
“Yeah, after being a part of the organization for so long, and everything I’ve done there,” he said.
Phillies get Neshek
Free-agent relief pitcher Pat Neshek is returning to the Philadelphia Phillies. He will get a $16.5 million, two-year contact pending a successful physical.
Neshek, 37, was an All-Star last year in his first season in Philadelphia. The Phillies then traded him to playoff-contending Colorado in late July for three prospects.
The right-hander was a combined 5-3 with one save and a 1.59 ERA in 71 games. He had a 1.12 ERA in 43 games for the lastplace Phillies.
Neshek has played 11 seasons in the majors, also pitching for Minnesota, San Diego, the A’s, St. Louis and Houston.
Ace remains on mend
Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell reiterated that ace Jimmy Nelson will not resume throwing until spring training and won’t be ready for opening day as he comes back from a shoulder injury.
Nelson was 12-6 with a 3.49 ERA last season. The right-hander was hurt Sept. 8 diving back to first after rounding the base after getting a single.
“He’s doing great and he’s very encouraged by how he’s recovering,” Counsell said Monday at the winter meetings. “Look, the loss of Jimmy Nelson, it hurts. I knew when it happened, I said this is going to hurt more in 2018 than it does the last five starts.”
Former pitcher dies
Tracy Stallard, the pitcher who gave up Roger Maris’ record 61st home run in 1961, has died. He was 80.
Stallard, who died at the Holston Valley Medical Center in Kingsport, Tennessee, was on the mound for Boston in 1961 when Maris broke the single-season record that Babe Ruth had held since 1927. The record stayed until 1998.
Stallard went 30-57 with a 4.17 career ERA while pitching for the Red Sox, New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals.