Report: Yankees Chat With Marlins About Stanton
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- This will be a sweepstakes like no other.
The Miami Marlins, who are now co-owned by Yankees legend Derek Jeter, are looking to unload superstar slugger Giancarlo Stanton, along with the remaining 10 years and $295 million on his contract.
The list of potential suitors heading into Wednesday was a veritable who's who of the power franchises in Major League Baseball. The St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants have been mentioned prominently. The Los Angeles Dodgers, Stanton's hometown team, are reportedly in the mix, as are the Boston Red Sox, albeit to lesser degrees.
The Yankees, the team usually the first mentioned when any star player becomes available, had conspicuously not been identified as a suitor for Stanton this offseason.
Until Wednesday night, sort of.
According to WFAN baseball insider Jon Heyman, the Marlins and Yankees had a brief discussion about Stanton during the general manager meetings in Orlando, Florida.
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Now, just how serious the Yankees are about potentially acquiring the best power hitter in the game, a guy coming off a 59-home run season who is a favorite to win the NL MVP award when the announcement is made Thursday night, is not really known. Heyman characterized the discussion between Marlins GM Michael Hill and the Yankees' Brian Cashman as nothing more than Miami asking if New York has interest in Stanton and the Yankees' responding that they would listen to the Marlins' proposal.
So, it's safe to say discussions between the sides are in the very early stages.
The question is, does adding Stanton make sense for the Yankees? The answer is complicated.
The Yankees have made it no secret they would ultimately like to get below the $197 million luxury tax threshold in 2018, something that would seem next to impossible if they took on all of Stanton's contract.
Also, the Yankees don't exactly need a power-hitting outfielder, given that they have the reigning AL Rookie of the Year, Aaron Judge, who is coming off 52-homer season, plus slugging young catcher Gary Sanchez and a roster that led the majors with 241 homers and was second in runs with 858.
Then there's the Marlins' asking price, which figures to be astronomical, and the fact that Stanton has a full no-trade clause, meaning he'd have to approve a move to any team.
In other words, the Yankees may have interest in Stanton, but the road to him landing in pinstripes is filled with obstacles. That said, though, one can never say never with the Yankees.
