STANTON TAKES STAGE
SLUGGER SET TO DON PINSTRIPES TODAY
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Since we’ve been hearing his name even more than usual these last couple of days, let’s set the record straight about Alex Rodriguez:
A-Rod never had a New York problem.
He had a tone-deafness problem. He had a Derek Jeter problem. He had a self-discipline problem. He had a Joe Torre problem.
But New York? A-Rod loved New York and everything it offered. Shoot, a week into his f irst spring training at (then) Legends Field, he already knew every media person that covered the Yankees. Come to think of it, he knew many of us from his time with the Mariners and Rangers, even before the Yankees landed him.
Now, Giancarlo Stanton, the Yankees’ biggest trade acquisition since A-Rod? We won’t know if he has a New York problem until he spends 2018 as a Yankee. Yet with his official introduction set for Monday afternoon here at the Winter Meetings, this can be said:
Stanton has New York questions to answer.
“He’ll enjoy New York City,” a friend of Stanton’s said of the newest Yankee, on the condition of anonymity. “He won’t enjoy the New York media.”
Stanton has embraced much of the celebrity that has come his way, playing in a cool city for an un-cool team, including a photo shoot for ESPN The Magazine’s 2013 Body Issue (the same year as Matt Harvey). He sounds like a good candidate to make his in-season home in Manhattan and get a few bold-faced mentions in Page Six.
New York will offer far more opportunities for fame, fortune and fun; it’s one of the reasons why the Bigg Applepp appealed to Stanton, according to a second friend. With that, however, will arrive a level of fan and media scrutiny that Stanton has by all accounts not experienced in the least. It’ s probable, for instance, that Stanton has never been booed heavily by his own fans.
The one time the perpetually lousy Marlins drew a national platform, last July, it didn’t go great for Stanton. Designated as an ambassador for the All-Star Game held at Marlins Park, Stanton bristled at softball questions about his Home Run Derby challenger (and now Yankees teammate) Aaron Judge. “Hopefully he has to answer as many questions about me as I do about him,” Stanton said at one juncture. When the Yankees’ Gary Sanchez upset Stanton in the first round that night, clearing the way for Judge’s eventual title, Stanton didn’t stick around for media questions.
This might sound like petty stuff. But it matters to your teammates and to your clubhouse culture. Playing for the Yankees means understanding and embracing the reality that reporters, broadcasters, producers and the like will be abundant in the clubhouse for a few concentrated periods. If you think railing against that reality — one that also exists in Boston — carries no risk, then you should Google “David Price Boston miserable.” Conversely, handling the situation well carries a reward, as exemplified by the overwhelmingly positive coverage of the 2017 Yankees.
Maybe A-Rod, who expects to stick around as a Yankees adviser, can help Stanton with this part of New York. Jeter could have, too, except he’s now the Marlins CEO who just made Stanton a Yankee.
The Yankees’ change at manager should help here. While Aaron Boone doesn’t know Stanton well, they share an agency and therefore have the foundation for a relationship. Boone, a 2003 Yankees and longtime broadcaster, can share some wisdom on this front with Stanton that would have been tough for Joe Girardi, given that Girardi’s news conferences often featured as much awkwardness as a Michael Scott tirade on “The Office.”
Yankees people express confidence Stanton will manage this adjustment just fine, and Stanton for sure has his supporters around the game who vouch for his enthusiasm and his interaction with teammates. Still, Stanton’s little practice on such a big stage creates an extra level of curiosity.
His new life starts Monday. He’ll start receiving those New York questions. His long-term response to them could very well determine the success of this behemoth deal.