Stanton euphoria may turn to hangover
OPINION
Shunned by Shohei Ohtani, the New York Yankees have wasted no time in giving themselves an even bigger, more expensive Christmas present in Giancarlo Stanton. Enjoy this one for the now, Yankee fans. Deck your halls with boughs of holly over your new twin giants of power because not too far down the road this deal is destined to give the Yankees more regret than the second Alex Rodriguez contract.
It was rather stunning how Stanton fell to the Yankees, especially since they were probably the last team in baseball Derek Jeter wanted to do business with in his first major trade as the new Miami Marlins co-owner.
But Jeter — who’s made one public relations blunder after another in the few short months since he and his gazillionaire partner, Bruce Sherman, bought the team from Jeffrey Loria — made the mistake of announcing to the world his intentions of trading Stanton, his marquee player and 59-homer National League MVP, without first talking to Stanton, who had a no-trade clause in the record $325-million contract he signed in 2014.
To put a no-trade clause in what was already a no-trade contract was ludicrous. But what did Loria care? He knew he wasn’t going to be around to pay the piper on this contract. This was just a further extension of the fleecing he did on Jeter and Sherman.
Jeter’s arrogance in not at least gauging his star player’s feelings about being traded and what teams he might agree to being traded to, resulted in a whole lot of wasted talks between the Marlins and the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals, both of which offered decent packages for Stanton that were for naught when he turned both trades down.
There were only a very limited number of teams to begin with that could take on the remaining 10 years/$295 million left on Stanton’s contract.
At least Stanton said he’d be willing to go to either of the two richest Major League Baseball teams, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Yankees.
However, when even the Dodgers, with the highest payroll ($244 million) in baseball last year and five straight years of paying luxury tax, said a trade would be too rich for them, Jeter was left with only his old pal Brian Cashman to deal with.
He had zero leverage, which is why someone is going to have to explain to me why the Yankees agreed to this deal without insisting the Marlins take back Jacoby Ellsbury’s contract in it?
First of all, it was a deal they didn’t have to make, other than the irresistible thrill of teaming up Stanton and Aaron Judge, the two most prodigious sluggers in the game, in the middle of their lineup seemingly for the next 10 years. From Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig to Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris to Judge and Stanton. Like I said, irresistible.
But the Yankee offence was already more than just fine last year, second in the majors in runs, first in homers with 241. What they lacked — and still lack — is another front line starting pitcher.
And even with throwing in Starlin Castro and the $21 million owed him the next two seasons, and getting $30 million in cash back from the Marlins, the Yankees, for payroll purposes, will still be paying Stanton roughly $29 million per year for the next 10 years though age 37.
That’s all fine — since when did the Yankees ever care about money? — as long as Stanton stays healthy and produces just reasonably consistent to how he did last season.
Unfortunately, history — both his own and these monster contracts in general — suggests he won’t.
It’s a fact of baseball life that players, after the age of 32, start breaking down. Stanton, before last year, already had a number of concerning injury issues.
He missed the final 17 games of the season after being hit in the face with a pitch in 2014.
MIAMI — Derek Jeter says when his ownership group took over the Miami Marlins in October, he thought Giancarlo Stanton would be with the Major League Baseball team in 2018.
Stanton says 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 much-needed financial flexibility and upgrading a weak farm system.
The Marlins’ new chief executive made his comments shortly before Stanton held a news conference at baseball’s winter meetings in Lake Buena Vista 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 per cent 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 San Francisco 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 with a stern expression. “You’re not going to force me to do anything.”
Stanton said he considered the threat unfair.
“Yeah, after being a part of the organization for so long, and everything I’ve done there,” he said.
In an Instagram post, Stanton thanked Marlins fans and the organization, but he also referred to the “roller coaster years” under previous owner Jeffrey Loria.
“I’ve always tried to be as professional as possible during the unprofessional, circus times there!” he wrote.
Jeter has drawn criticism for the trade and other moves early in his tenure as an owner, but he said he would have done nothing different regarding Stanton. The Marlins acquired two prospects and second baseman Starlin Castro.
“Contrary to popular belief, we were not stuck with this deal,” Jeter said. “This was the best deal out of the three for our organization . ... We think we got some good prospects in return.”
Further payroll paring is likely at the winter meetings, which Jeter is not attending. Castro and outfielders Marcell Ozuna and Christian Yelich are believed to be on the trading block.
But the departure of Stanton increases the Marlins’ options.
“It’s tough to have one player be such a huge part of your payroll,” Jeter said.
The payroll purge is the latest in a series for the Marlins, who haven’t been to the playoffs since 2003 and have finished last in the NL in attendance 12 of the past 13 years.
With Stanton gone, neither the team’s record nor support by antagonized fans is likely to improve soon.
“Look, I get it. They’re upset. They’re passionate,” Jeter said. “That’s what makes them fans. But the bottom line is the fans want to see a winning product on the field. They haven’t seen a winning product on the field.
“To do this, we’re going to have to make some moves and build this organization. I would tell the fans: Be patient. What had been in place has not been working, and we need to fix that.”
Said Stanton: “I would advise them not to give up. Just keep hope. Maybe watch from afar, if you’re going to watch.”