Yanks close to getting Stanton

MIAMI » After helping the New York Yankees to five World Series titles, Derek Jeter might help them win another.

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, a person familiar with the negotiations said Saturday. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the teams hadn’t announced the agreement.

Second baseman Starlin Castro would go to Miami as part of the trade, a second person familiar with the negotiations said. A third person said the Marlins would also receive prospects Jorge Guzman, a right-hander, and Jose Devers, an infielder who is a cousin of Boston prospect Rafael Devers.

The third person said 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, 13-year contract and has indicated he will approve the trade, one of the people said. St. Louis and San Francisco 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 RBI.

If the Yankees complete the trade with Jeter, their former captain and the new 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 mustsee 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?”

Obtaining the 28-yearold Stanton would be reminiscent of the Yankees’ acquisition of AL MVP Alex Rodriguez from Texas after the 2003 season for second baseman Alfonso Soriano. Rodriguez signed a $275 million, 10-year contract after the 2007 season that ran through age 42; Stanton’s deal runs through age 38.

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.

New Yankees manager Aaron Boone, along with the front office, would have to sort where Stanton will play. He has played his whole big league career in right field, as has Judge. The Yankees also have the option of using one of them as a designated hitter.