Stanton could fill S.F. need
ORLANDO — Baseball’s general manager meetings, otherwise known as the launch of Derek Jeter’s fire sale, begin Monday in Orlando.
The Miami Marlins will be a major story with Jeter — the CEO and front man of the new ownership group — planning to slash payroll and dump contracts of big-name players with the intention of building from the ground up and replenishing a skimpy farm system.
That undoubtedly means farewell to Giancarlo Stanton, which brings the Giants into the equation.
It just so happens the Marlins’ desperate selling mode comes at
a time the Giants are in a desperate buying mode — and lack exactly what Stanton provides: power.
GM Bobby Evans and executive vice president of baseball operations Brian Sabean will head the Giants’ contingent at the GM meetings, which are often used to lay groundwork for transactions and are a prelude to the winter meetings in December, also in Orlando.
Stanton, 28, hit 59 home runs with 132 RBIs and won the Hank Aaron Award as the National League’s top hitter, but is owed $285 million over the next 10 years. He’ll make $25 million next season and peak at $32 million. The deal runs through 2027 with a 2028 club option or $10 million buyout.
The right fielder has an optout clause after the 2020 season and full no-trade clause that requires his approval for any deal.
Acquiring Stanton is a wild dream for Giants fans and a long shot for a front office in its most important offseason since 199697 — when several key acquisitions ignited a worst-to-first transformation — but it would be a substantial boost in the wake of a 98-loss season in which the organization took huge steps backward on the field and at the box office.
Ultimately, the team that agrees to pick up the most of Stanton’s contract and offers the best prospects will win the sweepstakes, so long as Stanton agrees to it. A source with knowledge of the Marlins’ thinking and San Francisco’s farm system said the Marlins aren’t necessarily impressed with the Giants’ prospects and doubt San Francisco could put together a competitive package.
That would suggest the Giants would need to up the ante financially to compete with other teams, including the Cardinals, Red Sox, Phillies and perhaps, Dodgers. The thinking goes, if a team can’t match other teams’ prospects, it would need to compensate by taking on more of the contract.
The advantages of a Stanton-to-San Francisco arrangement are plentiful:
By a large margin, the Giants finished last in the majors in home runs at a time the long ball became a bigger aspect of the game than ever. Even adding Stanton’s 59 homers to the Giants’ total, they would have been tied for 23rd among 30 teams.
Stanton would fill one of two outfield holes. If the Giants platoon Denard Span and Hunter Pence in left field, they’d want a defensive-minded center fielder and power-hitting right fielder.
If the Giants get Stanton, the Dodgers wouldn’t. Stanton grew up a Dodgers fan and went to Notre Dame High School in Los Angeles. Yasiel Puig, you say? The Dodgers could trade him or simply make it work with both corner outfielders.
The Giants would be a hot ticket again. As the team plummeted last summer, so did ticket prices on the resale market. Stanton would help at the gate and make it easier for fans to put 2017 in the past.
The list of disadvantages is short.
The contract. The more the Giants pay for one player, the less wiggle room they’d have to fill holes in center, at third base and in the bullpen. They want to keep their payroll beneath the competitive-balance-tax threshold of $197 million — so they wouldn’t be subject to harsher penalties as a four-time offender — but CEO Larry Baer said they’re not ruling out exceeding it again.
The Marlins are open to moving other big contracts, and the Giants will monitor talks involving second baseman Dee Gordon, left fielder Marcell Ozuna and center fielder Christian Yelich. The big fish is Stanton, who said he wants to play for a contender and can determine where he’ll go next.
If the Giants can work a deal for the 6-foot-6, 245-pounder, they’d need to convince him they can contend. That could be yet another challenge.