NEWSLETTER
As the Cubs (and six other teams) anxiously await Shohei Ohtani’s final decision, interesting developments are happening on the Giancarlo Stanton-side of the offseason:
Cardinals and Giants not on Stanton's approval. Unclear if either or both teams have been told anything to this point.
— Craig Mish (@CraigMish) December 8, 2017
Now told Stanton will approve :
Dodgers
Yankees
Cubs
Astros— Craig Mish (@CraigMish) December 8, 2017
Craig Mish, who’s been mostly on top of this story since the beginning of the offseason, is now reporting that not only are the Cardinals *and* Giants not a preferred destination for Stanton (we already knew about the former, but mostly assumed the latter would be acceptable once the Dodgers were officially out (and to be sure, that might still be the case)), but that only the Dodgers, Yankees, Cubs, and Astros are “approved” destinations for the 2017 NL MVP.
Well, then.
Apparently, the Marlins had somewhat of a framework with the Cardinals and Giants, so Stanton took meetings with them anyway, but it appears he hopes not to end up in San Francisco or St. Louis. So where does he want to go?
Well …
As I noted on every radio show and every podcast and the video I did last night. Giancarlo Stanton's desire to win has been greatly understated and this is not about geography.
— Craig Mish (@CraigMish) December 8, 2017
According to Mish, Stanton’s preferences lie not with geography, but on his future team’s ability to win right now (which makes some sense, given how long he’s toiled away in Miami).
But before you go penciling his name into the outfield, Mish pumps the brakes:
I do not believe the Cubs & Astros are involved at a high level at this time. That is a belief, I do not have facts to back that up.
— Craig Mish (@CraigMish) December 8, 2017
And I’ll pump them further: Even if Stanton wields his no-trade clause so firmly that the only four teams truly in on Stanton are the Dodgers, Yankees, Cubs, and Astros, we still run into some problems. Most notably, the Dodgers will have to continue resisting the urge to push themselves further above the luxury tax threshold by acquiring some portion of Stanton’s contract. While I mostly believe that to be the case, I’m not yet 100% sure they’re not just trying to make the deal as painful for Miami (or San Francisco, for that matter) as possible.
And then, sure, the Astros are pretty unlikely to take on anything close to what the Marlins are looking to dump in terms of salary, but the Yankees might be there. Stanton doesn’t have to play in right field and adding his thunderous bat to an up-and-coming, Aaron-Judge led Yankees team would be terrifying, especially in the AL.
And then, of course, there’s the fact that the Cubs haven’t signaled, in any way, an interest to add Stanton (and his massive contract) to the team. Not only do they already have an extremely expensive corner outfielder, they have a pretty loaded outfield altogether, and possibly even interest in going after a younger Bryce Harper next offseason.
So, in the end, I wouldn’t let this one take you too far down the rabbit hole, but it certainly is a notable bit of news. We’ll continue to monitor, and, as always, keep you informed.
