After a prolonged saga in which the Giants and the Cardinals were the primary trade suitors for Giancarlo Stanton, the reigning NL MVP spurned both clubs in order to approve a trade to the Yankees that seemingly came together in a matter of days. The Yankees introduced Stanton at a press conference at the Winter Meetings in Orlando, Fla. on Monday, and the slugger spoke about his decision to approve a trade out of Miami as well as the process of ultimately green-lighting a deal to New York.
“When I signed up in Miami, I wanted things to work out,” Stanton began in his address of the media. “I had a good vision there. But, sometimes things just spiral out of place, and you have to find a new home. I’m very excited to be here and I’m looking forward to stepping up and being with this winning environment and winning culture.”
Stanton’s comments regarding the Marlins mirror those that he made on Instagram earlier today. “…I’ve always tried to be as professional as possible during the unprofessional, circus times there!” he wrote amid a thank you/farewell message to Marlins fans, the city and the organization.
Indeed, the Miami organization has long drawn flak from the media and throughout the industry under the leadership of former owner Jeffrey Loria and president David Samson. From the team’s 2012 fire sale just one year after moving into a publicly funded stadium to a near-constant managerial shuffle as well as the seemingly interminable saga of Loria’s sale of the team, Stanton withstood a roller coaster ride like few other players experience in their careers.
“You guys in the media, you’ve seen what’s gone on down there,” said Stanton, who played for seven different managers in his eight seasons in Miami (including a season in which former GM Dan Jennings bizarrely shifted from the front office to the dugout). “What I mainly meant was just no structure — no stamp of, ’This is how things are going to be.’ It’s a different direction every Spring Training. Something new every spring. A different manager every spring or middle of the season. That’s mainly what I meant.”
In the Yankees, it seems, Stanton sees a largely different scenario: a young team with a freshly appointed manager that has clear designs on winning over a sustained period of time.
“Just watching them from afar, seeing their young dynamic group, the way they flow together on the field,” Stanton said when asked why the Yankees appealed to him. “They never give up, never quit. The atmosphere, the storied franchise — there’s not much you could say of why you wouldn’t want to be there. They were for sure on the list of where I wanted to be.”
Stanton also noted that the team’s young core can “strike from everywhere,” calling them “well-balanced” and “hungry.” That’s not to say that he didn’t hold former teammates such as Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna, J.T. Realmuto, Dee Gordon and others in similarly high regard. Stanton made clear that he felt the basis of a contender was there in Miami, but his vision for the team’s future did not align with that of new owners Derek Jeter and Bruce Sherman.
“We had a meeting, yes,” Stanton said when asked if he sat down with Jeter. “We spoke about the direction of the team. I wanted us to go forward and have an advance with the pitching staff. I thought our lineup was legit, and we needed help with our pitchers and we needed to add — not subtract. Derek, the way they wanted to go was to subtract, so I let that be known that I didn’t want to be part of another rebuild or another losing season. That’s almost a guaranteed losing season, taking away what I thought was a great lineup.”
At that point, Stanton said he provided the Marlins with a list of teams prior to the beginning of trade negotiations. Though the Cardinals and Giants weren’t on that list, those two teams have long been reported to have the most interest in Stanton, and the Marlins went ahead in negotiating potential deals to send Stanton there, pending his approval.
Stanton noted that he was open to hearing what the Giants and Cardinals had to say, and he was complimentary of the executives with whom he met as well as the history of each organization and its culture. Ultimately, however, he simply stated that a trade to either San Francisco or St. Louis “just wasn’t the fit for me.” Stanton unsurprisingly declined to delve into his exact motivation for vetoing trades to both clubs, though he did shed some light on his reasons for meeting with two teams that weren’t on his list of approved trade destinations.
“I really just wanted to learn what another organization is like,” said Stanton. “All I’ve ever experienced is the Marlins and basically one way of going about things, so I wanted to see how other organizations went about their business and how the city would appeal to me.”
“I’ve always watched them from afar,” Stanton said of the Cardinals when asked specifically about his talks with St. Louis. “We share the same Spring Training, so I’ve noticed how they go about their business. It’s winning first, culture, the fans and everything — it’s a great organization. We did have a good meeting, but I wanted to see my options [with] the teams that I initially chose.”
That, Stanton emphasized, was a list that always included the Yankees. The Dodgers, too, were on the list, though Stanton stated he wasn’t sure how aggressive Los Angeles ever was in its attempts to acquire him.
As for what’s to come, he acknowledged an excitement to play with a player that he feels is similar to himself in Aaron Judge. The exact nature of the outfield alignment remains to be seen, and Stanton said there’s been no talk of how they’ll all line up defensively, but he’s willing to play anywhere. His focus isn’t on where he’s playing in the field but the ultimate outcome of his team’s efforts.
“It’s what I’ve always wanted,” Stanton replied upon being asked about playing in a major market with definitive postseason expectations. “It’s what I’ve dreamed of. You always want to be in competitive games where they mean something and your performance means something to the team and the city. It’s going to be a fun challenge, and I’m looking forward to it.”
As for the Marlins, they did not have a contingent on hand to discuss the franchise-altering move. In fact, Jeter did not even travel to Orlando for the Winter Meetings, though he did speak to reporters by phone today. Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald and Tim Healey of the Sun Sentinel rounded up the key bits of information (all links that follow are to their Twitter feeds).
Jeter gave some details on the process, saying that the Yankees were the only team really involved beyond the Cardinals and Giants. He stressed the financial flexibility that comes with shedding Stanton’s salary and emphasized that Stanton told the Fish that he “wanted to continue his career elsewhere” after learning of the team’s plans. The new Marlins CEO emphasized that he understands why some fans are disappointed, though he also stressed that he thinks building a sustainable winner in the long run will reward the patience the organization is asking for. Jeter also rejected any inkling that his connections to the Yankees had anything to do with the move.
Red Ivy
Milk was a bad choice
Remms12
best first comment ever
baseballmanak
Can’t wait to see Judge and Stanton Mash baseballs together… as he said in the conference “I feel sorry for all the baseballs”
Setzer
“Jeter also rejected any inkling that his connections to the Yankees had anything to do with the move.”
Yeah, right.
Adam6710
Yes, right. You think he invested 25 million dollars just to help his old team, and the GM he hates?
CriminalMethod
They had deals in place with two other teams that Stanton rejected. What are they supposed to do when he has a full no trade clause?
justin-turner overdrive
That’s a smokescreen: Jeter knew all along Giancarlo wouldn’t approve a trade to those teams, and then he would go with the 4 best contenders where the Yankees would swoop.
If Jeter leaves this job anytime soon then this is sus.
yanks02026
You should be given the award of biggest troll on this board. Im amazed you haven’t been banned.
Adam6710
How does that make it a smokescreen? It sounds like the usual trade scenario. LAD didn’t want to pay the whole contract, and Houston and Chicago weren’t interested.
Typical jealous Met-fan paranoia!
justin-turner overdrive
Like I said, if Jeter leaves the Marlins anytime soon, then this becomes extremely suspect. But sure, okay, for now we will buy it that Jeter unloads his biggest MVP winning star to his “other” team just because that’s the way it panned out (but lets not dissect how it panned out). Okay.
justin-turner overdrive
Either counter my point or go away. I’m no troll I just put 1 and 1 together and got 2.
Adam6710
I will dissect how it panned out:
Stanton told them he’d only waive his no-trade clause for the Dodgers, Yankees, Astros, and Cubs. The Dodgers didn’t want to pay, the Astros and Cubs weren’t interested.
Desperate not to deal with the Yankees, Jeter struck better deals with the Giants and Cardinals, but were vetoed by his no-trade clause.
With no other choice, he begrudgingly accepted a terrible deal because he was desperate to unload the contract. He even tried prying better prospects from the Yankees, but Cashman– knowing how desperate Jeter was, didn’t blink, and called his bluff.
Adam6710
But yes, you are a troll. A tin foil hat wearing, chemtrail inhaling conspiracy nut troll. Go back under your met bridge and wave your last place Mets flag.
jackt
Yeah Hitler, Tupac, and Elvis are sitting together somewhere and laughing at all of us.
brewcrewer
But, how does that benefit Jeter? I doubt he does that just because he likes the yankees
TLB2001
Leave? Jeter owns the Marlins. It’s not just a job.
billneftleberg
Justin do you need your pacifier? He’s played 8 years. He wants to try winning for a change.
He’d go to your Mets except theyre owned by wilpon
mike156
Not really. You started with an answer you wanted to have, then ignored anything to the contrary. If Jeter really was in the tank for the Yankees, than why walk through anything with other teams–it would just have driven up the price for “his” team. And…just about everyone on the site agreed that they didn’t want “their” team to pick up Stanton’s contract.
What it comes down to is you don’t like the result.
MB923
They shouldn’t have to counter it. You are the one making the claims. Therefore you should be the one providing evidence how “Jeter knew Stanton didn’t want to go there”
22222pete
He wanted to establish a baseline to justify the deal to NY was comparable knowing he would take some heat. Hard to see the team that let Pujols walk doing that deal. Giants GM is a former Yankee. MLB has always wanted a string team in NY. The first AL President used to strong arm teams to give good players to NY for 10 cents on the dollar as it was in the leagues interests. Since Manfred took over a couple of sweetheart deals for the Yankees in Didi , Castro and Chapman, posting rules suddenly change in their favor for Tanaka, Arods suspension was a gift, etc
Also Jeters people told Stantons agent that Boston was not interested. DD said he had talks with Miami and that this was not so (tampering rules prevented direct contact) but that Miami asked for the moon and never came back to see if a better deal could be obtained even after he called while they were talking to NY
appleinthesky
you have no idea what you are talking about. in what world were the didi, castro and chapman sweetheart deals? People killed the didi trade cause noone thought he could hit lefties and chad green was supposed to be legit. And people were getting on the yankees for taking epstein castros’ bloated contract and was doing the cubs a favor cause they had russell. People also ripped into the yankees for taking advantage of the chapman domestic abuse situation to get that deal.
The cardinals didnt just walked away from pujols. they still offered him 10 years but were outbid by the angels. And thats a 32 years old pujols not a 28 year stanton they “walked” away from.
Also the giants gm is not a former yankee. Brian sabean is not the GM anymore. The GM actually started as a intern for Boston tho…plot twisttttttt.
EndinStealth
There was no collusion. The Marlins were handcuffed, plain and simple. With that said, and no offense to Yankee fans, I can’t wait for him to be on the DL.
billneftleberg
That’s a lie too. just like Justin, if there was no offense why would you wish ANY player be injured
mcdusty31
I don’t think that it’s wishing him an injury specifically, more or less him missing time after they made such a splash…I’d like to think it’s not a personal thing with Stanton…I wasn’t that disappointed when MadBum wrecked his bike to be honest, I mean it sucks for him but it helped the Gnats stay in the cellar all year
EndinStealth
Not wishing him injury. Just will not be sad when the inevitable happens. One healthy year does not erase his past. With his past I say it’s a fair bet he’ll spend not one but two stints on the dl in 2018.
Houston We Have A Solution
Jeter did the marlins a favor getting them out from under the stanton deal only owing 30 mill, if he opts in.
He opts in yankees are paying an expensive DH 33 through 38 years.
Not only that yankees will be paying stanton and ellsbury close to 50 mill combined alone in 2020 and 2021. That doesnt bode well for locking up guys or making moves to compete.
22222pete
Funny how Stantons agent told reporters the Red Sox were not interested in Stanton according to Jeters guys , despite the fact DD said he was interested and had talked to the Marlins.
Definitely seemed Jeter did his best to move Stanton to NY. Not that we know if Stanton would have approved a trade to Boaton, but he was never given Boston as an option. Pretty sure JBJ has more value than Castro and that the Red Sox could have matched the prospects or exceeded them. A 22.5 million AAV was also doable seeing as Hanley AAV is close to that and he can be gone after 2018
Marlin fans have a right to question if the best deal was made.
Turntwo
In order to make a trade occur you need a little more than interest, you need to actually make an offer, which Boston did not as they were very concerned with taking on his contract and already had what they felt to be a solid outfield.. The Yankees did the Marlins a huge favor by taking on that mammoth contract, which to them was just as, if not more, valuable than any prospects/players to be received.
But thank you, it is very entertaining to read the conspiracy theories of Yankee haters. One of the joys of being a Yankee’s fan. Keep ’em coming.
driftcat28 2
This “conspiracy” was funny at first but now it’s getting real annoying. If you truly believe that Jeter PURCHASED A BASEBALL TEAM just to help his former team, you’re truly delusional
lesterdnightfly
Jeter didn’t “purchase a baseball team”. He put in pocket money, which he will get back as salary. What he gave to the deal was his name and “legend” (which is starting to fray around the edges, as he makes weird moves galore).
southbeachbully
What “weird” moves did Jeter make?
baseballguy
Did you not read the report you’re commenting on?
Turntwo
In order to make a trade occur you need a little more than interest, you need to actually make an offer, which Boston did not as they were very concerned with taking on his contract and already had what they felt to be a solid outfield.. The Yankees did the Marlins a huge favor by taking on that mammoth contract, which to them was just as, if not more, valuable than any prospects/players to be received.
But thank you, it is very entertaining to read the conspiracy theories of Yankee haters. One of the joys of being a Yankee’s fan. Keep ’em coming.
justin-turner overdrive
All of his comments basically say “It was either 2 years of losing in Miami, or I could go to a winner while we wait for the Dodgers to get their act together.” Everything he’s done since announcing he would accept trades to the 4 most contender-y teams in the game points to him opting out, he just went to any team where he’d doesn’t have to worry too much about losing in ’18+19.
fmj
this is exactly correct
vinscully16
I just don’t think Stanton’s time in Miami was so terrible. The team didn’t win, bad decisions were made, but such a circumstance is hardly rare. Not getting the ‘victim of the “circus”‘ vibe, not exactly a team-first attitude. Here’s hoping the Yankees have a happy and healthy season, but go 0-162.
justin-turner overdrive
When the GM promotes himself to manager midseason, that’s a circus.
Adam6710
They’ve had 8 managers in the 10 years the Yankees had Girardi. That’s nuts.
lowtalker1
When a team has a history of fire sales, a history of going through managers, a ugly ball park, cheap stake owners and feeling Not welcomed with the new
It’s time to go
He didn’t want to go there and they tried to make them
Would you?
Heck no
If you have a full no trade clause then you go where you want to go
Thronson5
Curious to see if the Yankees try to make any trades this offseason to free up cap space and space in the outfield so they can go after Harper. It’s been long rumored they want Harper badly. We shall see. I highly doubt they make it happen but you never know with the Yankees. If Harper does decide to go somewhere else I see it being the Dodgers with some of those contracts coming off the books like A Gon and a few other bad contracts
Adam6710
They don’t need to. Even if nobody is traded, Headley and Gardner (25M combined) are gone after this season, and there was no specific goal of staying below the luxury tax long term– they only wanted to get below it this season to reset their penalty rate.
I don’t think they’ll go after Harper, but there’s really nothing stopping them.
NuckBobFutting
I don’t think they’ll go after Harper. I think Machado makes more sense
driftcat28 2
Agreed I see Machado more than Harper
mike156
I think the Yankees are done spending in a big-ticket way for the next couple of years. Stanton is their Harper investment.
jd396
There isn’t a cap
Turntwo
The Yankees are going to go after Harper hard as it is difficult to justify not going after a once-in-a-generation player who will be 26 years of age (plenty of extremely productive years) when he hits the market. With Gardner’s contract up next year, Harper will be in play… without question. Especially when taking into account that he is a lefty. (tailor-made for Yankee stadium)…
BaseballRebel
STanton is good for 75 homers hitting at Yankee stadium next year, Judge 60+. This will be a season to remember!!!
Adam6710
I have my doubts they’ll repeat or better their 2017 numbers.
I think Judge will improve his average and cut down his strikeouts, but have fewer home runs, and I think Stanton will regress somewhat (prior to 2017 his highest home run total was 37). I’d wager they combine for around 90 home runs, assuming they are both healthy.
CubsFanForLife
In that 37 HR season, though, he only played in 120 games. I do like the 90 combined HRs projection, though, that sounds about right.
BaseballRebel
I could even see them both maybe hitting 60 HR each in the same season rather reasonably
Adam6710
His two 37 HR seasons were 123 and 145 games, respectively. I do see him hitting more than 40, but not quite 60.
brewcrewer
Stanton does get the benefit of hitting in a joke of a stadium for 81 games this next year. Id be more confident in him doing it again before judge
yankee60
Yankee Stadium is the 3rd easiest home run park. Miami is the third hardest. So Stanton could do 50 if he stays healthy. Expect Judge to regress to under 40. Expect a healthy Greg Bird to also contribute with Sanchez to a record home run (and strike outs) year
NuckBobFutting
I don’t think Judge will be nearly as good. As we saw in the playoffs pitchers are starting to figure him out. He can’t hit breaking balls
yankee60
Judge hit breaking balls when his shoulder is ok. His hole is 95 mph hour high fastballs and umps who can’t find his knees
Adam6710
This has happened before, from the minors to the majors: late this past summer everyone said he was “done”– that the league had “figured him out.” Then September was his best month of the season.
Judge has shown he can make adjustments, and it was just his rookie season. I do believe he’ll adjust and have a more steady season, but I don’t see him hitting 50+ home runs again. But I think most fans would be very happy if he hit .295/40HR/100BB/140SO.
He doesn’t have to be Mike Trout to be an incredible player.
NuckBobFutting
He saw between 54 and 61 percent hard stuff and between 27 and 36 percent breaking balls in every month of the season from April to September. In October, he saw 41 percent fastballs and 55 percent breaking balls.
hyraxwithaflamethrower
I believe he’ll regress a little, but he’ll make adjustments. By your claim, Bellinger is going to suck now, too, because the Astros exposed him as a guy who couldn’t hit any sort of breaking ball down and in. Hitters make adjustments, pitchers adjust back. It’s closer to a game of chess than it is Superman always being done in by Kryptonite.
Turntwo
To be fair, in the playoffs most good hitters slump as a 5 or 7-game series allows for more opportunity to expose a player’s weaknesses. In addition, in the playoffs you are only facing the best pitching…Lastly, don;t forget that he was in a huge slump after the all-star break because pitchers “figured him out”. This game is all about adjustments, which we clearly saw he was capable of as demonstrated by his performance in September.
22222pete
Depends on the ball. If they shrink the strike zone they may go back to the old ball
Toadwart
Looks good on paper, have to wait and see what happens. Hope no one gets the injury bug!
BaseballRebel
Best offense in baseball though
22222pete
1961 unless Manfred hides the juiced balls
Gocubsgo1986
If JF16 was still here, is Stanton a Yankee? No point but crazy to think about
NuckBobFutting
No, and Loria never sells the team
CameronMonNW
According to a Jeff Passan tweet “The backstory of the Giancarlo Stanton trade is bonkers. Miami threatened that if he didn’t accept a trade to St. Louis or San Francisco, he would be a Marlin for life. He called their bluff. And because of it, he’s a New York Yankee.”
22222pete
For 3 years. Hardly life.
mike156
The only way Stanton was going to opt out was if he was healthy and performing at a high level. $200+M guaranteed is a lot to walk from. Everyone is looking at the Albert contract.
Adam6710
Some players would take a pay cut to win (A-Rod almost did when he was nearly traded to Boston). Unless he absolutely tanked, he’d still garner a big contract if he opted out in 2020 from the Marlins.
hyraxwithaflamethrower
The health is a bigger concern than the performance. He’s been a hell of a hitter whenever he’s been healthy enough to play.
mike156
Darn that Yankee-Jeter conspiracy thing….must be fake news to throw us off the trail.
Joe giovengo
First off there is no way Stanton opps out of his contract. He’s set for life. In three years he wouldn’t make the money he’s signed for.
Second damn don’t you people have anything else to talk about. Trades done
aff10
I’m sure Jeter being a Yankee did have some impact, although not necessarily a nefarious one. Jeter has staff members (especially Denbo) whom he knows from his time in NY. It’s not at all surprising for executives to target prospects with whom their familiar from previous organizations. It seems plausible that Jeter & Co. were just more comfortable with the Yankees farm (Guzman, in particular) than with other organizations, given the amount of former Yankees in the Marlin organization
twrimmer21
This has probably been discussed somewhere before, but I wonder if it would make sense to move Judge to 1st and have a Gardner/Hicks/Stanton outfield? Judge definitely has the size and reach of a solid 1st bagger. Of course he may not have any desire to play 1st. Just a thought.
yankee60
Ever hear of Greg Bird?
Woodlawn
Gardner is trash and needs to be dealt. Put Judge in left.
jd396
I get some of the Boo Jeter stuff… but honestly, buying the Marlins is like buying a fancy rotating rooftop restaurant that sells three-day-old Wendy’s chicken nuggets warmed over in the microwave for $79 a plate. You have to completely blow it out of the water. Beyond having poor management, financially the team was ridiculously unsustainable. It doesn’t matter who bought the team. No way in hell can a team with their revenue stream do anything BUT blow the system up and start over.
Did we not all intuitively know that this was going to happen the day they announced Stanton’s extension?
hyraxwithaflamethrower
My argument is that I believe Stanton would have opted out in three years unless he was injured and missed half the games from now til then. If this is true, then three years of him at $77M total is team-friendly if he stays healthy. He’s the only reason to go to a Marlins game, so ticket and merchandise sales will suffer even more. And they didn’t have to make the deal right now. There were three more deadlines and two more offseasons left before his opt-out to work something out. If the terms under which he bought the team were so disadvantageous that he was forced to get rid of the team’s only real moneymaker, then he and the other investors are terrible as businessmen. This goes down in my mind as one of the dumbest trades of this century.
Yankeepatriot
He fits in with our youth movement so perfectly and everyone seems to like him. Welcome to the Bronx !!!!! I even have him in a photo shopped pic in my avatar already lol
realgone2
I hate the yankees. I hate jeter and I hate the marlins. Yet, if you believe there was some nefarious scheme by Jeter to get Stanton to the Yanks then you are a nutjob or an idiot. Probably both.
mike156
I like your consistency….and you are dead on right.
jdgoat
I could’ve and should’ve typed this exactly
baseballguy
Stanton plus 30 million for castro and two single A minor leaguers? Trade clause or not don’t tell me the marlins couldn’t have done better. I think Jeter was afraid of the hit his legacy would take in New York if he backed out of talks with the Yankess and traded Stanton somewhere else. Boston reportedly expressed interest. Did Jeter even bother to look at their offer?
hyraxwithaflamethrower
Supposedly he didn’t want to go to Boston. He was able to control which teams he’d be dealt to, but I think if the Marlins had pulled him back and made him suffer through another year of losing, his list would have magically expanded during the summer and next offseason. Offers might well have gotten better, too.
Turntwo
That’s the point, the player had all the leverage not the team in this situation. Jeter could not just make a trade with anyone… The marlins found an option that provided the most committed salary relief (their ultimate goal) and was agreeable to the player.
fs54
I am a Nationals fan but since this Stanton trade, part of me wants to see Harper play alongside Stanton and Judge in that lineup. But smart move would be adding Machado for Yankees.