Written by Dayn Perry at CBS Sports.com
As you know, the Marlins under new ownership are seeking to shed payroll, and to that end they’re also looking to trade slugger Giancarlo Stanton and his mega-contract. What makes Stanton an appealing trade target is that coming off an age-27 season in which he mashed 59 home runs and wound up as a finalist for NL MVP honors. What complicates all that is that, if he doesn’t exercise his opt-out after the 2020 season, he’s still owed almost $300 million.
We learned recently that four teams in particular have strong interest in dealing for Stanton and have held at least cursory talks with the Marlins. That number jumped to at least seven at the start of the GM Meetings in Orlando. Stanton, though, has a full no-trade clause, which means that he’ll have to approve any trade the club is able to hammer out. His stated preference is to play on the West Coast (he’s a Southern California native), and that’s bad news for a number of teams linked to him, specifically the Red Sox and Cardinals. Specifically, here’s this from Chad Jennings of the Boston Herald:
A baseball source said yesterday that he’s been told Stanton will not accept a trade to either the Red Sox or the Cardinals, another team linked early and often in trade rumors. Perhaps there’s some flexibility in that stance, but Stanton’s preference is a factor.
So that’s bad news for the Red Sox and Cardinals. There have been conflicting reports about Boston’s level of interest, but the Cardinals have been the presumed frontrunner in recent days. Consider this report a blow to their chances.
The Giants are also said to be heavily in on Stanton, and they obviously meet the West Coast criterion.
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