The San Francisco Giants need to make a splash this offseason, and what better way to make said splash than by adding a Marlin?
Jon Heyman of FanRag had a piece go up in recent days that reiterated earlier rumors concerning Giancarlo Stanton and the San Francisco Giants. Heyman states that the Miami Marlins new ownership group and Stanton will be having a meeting after the World Series, and that Stanton “isn’t up for another rebuild.”
Stanton has a full no-trade clause, which means that he will have his say over where he ultimately plays. The team that is potentially receiving the slugger could potentially ask for some sort of assurance that Stanton, who hit 59 homers in 2017, won’t opt out of his contract after the 2020 season if they are to part with large swaths of their farm system.
And therein lies the problem with the Staton to San Francisco rumors.
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The Giants farm system is not among the best in baseball. Neither is the one held by Miami, so grabbing some minor-leaguers from the Giants would help the Marlins system, but it certainly wouldn’t give them that crowning jewel from trading away the face of their franchise. Instead, they’d potentially end up with a couple of players in the Joe Panik mold – that is, a good but unremarkable two to three win player – not a building block, but nice supporting pieces.
Of course, there could be a deal that moves a player like Jeff Samardzija from San Francisco to Miami, with the Giants picking up much of both tabs in order to free up that coveted room against the luxury tax for the Marlins, but that would be a short term move for the Floridians.
Aside from not having a wealth of top 100 prospects to offer, San Francisco is all but an assured winner. If Stanton doesn’t want to go through another rebuild, then the Giants may be a team to avoid. Sure, they have a lot of their key players locked up, but Madison Bumgarner is the key piece to their puzzle and he will be a free agent following the 2019 season, one year before Stanton. He’s not likely to sign an extension this winter following a injury-shortened campaign, so his status will likely remain up in the air as his contract enters its final year.
And what if the Giants falter during the first half of next season too? That would be two full seasons of lousy ball (second half of 2016 to first half 2018) with their core not getting any younger. In the past year and a half they hold a .402 winning percentage, which is a 65-win pace over a full season.
Who’s to say that they wouldn’t start selling, starting with their biggest trade chip to kickstart a rebuild? That’s how tenuous the Giants feel at the moment. Three bad months of baseball and we could be looking at a complete teardown of the championship core.
And that is why Giancarlo Stanton won’t be waiving his no-trade clause to go to San Francisco.
If he wants to go to a coast and prefers the west since he was born in California, then may I enter a dark horse candidate for his services: the Oakland Athletics.
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The A’s have the talent on the farm to land him, they have the payroll flexibility to be able to easily add his contract and they’re motivated to show their fanbase that this time they are doing things the right way and are willing to spend a little to put a winner on the field.
It sounds crazy, but if Stanton doesn’t hate the idea, then there is definitely some wiggle room to make it happen.