Giancarlo Stanton has cleared waivers, and of course the trade rumors begin. With a new ownership group on the way in, Stanton could end up being traded somewhere.
The Miami Marlins with Giancarlo Stanton are in a similar situation as the 2003 Texas Rangers were with Alex Rodriguez.
The Rangers just didn’t have the money to add talent around Rodriguez and his behemoth $252 million contract. They were shelling out 30 percent of their payroll to a single player and they couldn’t win with it. In fact, they never even had a winning season with A-Rod on their roster.
Realizing this, the Rangers put Rodriguez up on the trading block and after a failed deal with the Boston Red Sox, they struck one up with the wealthy New York Yankees. The Rangers would pay $67 million of the $179 million left on the largest contract in pro sports at the time.
The exact same situation is currently playing out down in Miami. The Marlins are unable to field a winning team with a contract as large as Stanton’s on their roster.
With a new ownership group about to take hold of the Marlins and their future, it’s almost certain that Stanton will be traded at some point.
Stanton to the Red Sox has been a rumor floated out a lot over the past couple of seasons. But with this new ownership group, the possibility of it happening is very real.
If and when the Marlins trade Stanton, the goal will be to get rid of almost all of his salary and acquire back a lot of talent in return.
The Red Sox could accomplish both of those.
The Red Sox have the talent to send back to South Florida as well as the money to help pay off a good chunk of Stanton’s deal.
Stanton is in the midst of his best season, so the Marlins would ask for a king’s ransom in return. Andrew Benintendi, Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts would almost certainly be part of the crew heading to Miami.
With regard to talent, the Red Sox would have various positives and negatives.
On the positive side of this, the Red Sox would be getting the power bat to replace David Ortiz. Ever since the beginning of the new millennium, the Red Sox have always had a true power bat. First it was Manny Ramirez, then Ortiz, then… Stanton? Stanton would abuse the Green Monster and be sending balls over it left and right.
If the Sox were to lose the players listed above, they’d still have Mookie Betts and Jackie Bradley Jr. from their young core of hitters and fielders. The production of Stanton would cover up that of Bogaerts and of what Benintendi and Devers are now.
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The negative lies within what Benintendi and Devers will probably become. Judging off 17 games from Devers and almost a full season from Benintendi going back to last year, these kids are going to be stars in this league.
Benintendi has a beautiful, type-A swing and Devers has proven in just a short sample size that he can hit to all fields.
Devers is set to be the Red Sox’ third basemen for the next 10+ years and Bogaerts is supposed to do the same at shortstop. By possibly sending both of those guys away, massive holes would be left at each position. The Red Sox haven’t been able to solidify third base since the departure of Mike Lowell in 2010. Shortstop is also a really hard position to fill in today’s game, so Bogaerts has been a blessing for the team.
Even with Benintendi, Devers and Bogaerts gone (if they were to trade for Stanton), the Red Sox would still have numerous paydays to hand out. Betts will be earning himself a lot of money, Bradley will be earning a good chunk of change and Chris Sale becomes a free agent after 2019.
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Like any trade, there are a plethora of positives and negatives. But when the negatives outweigh the positives for the Red Sox in a situation like this, it may not be fully worth it.
Although who wouldn’t be entertained by what Stanton could do to that Green Monster?