MLB: Why Giancarlo Stanton will Wear Dodger Blue Next Season
Giancarlo Stanton is one of this MLB offseason’s hot commodities after finishing the season hitting .281 with 59 HR’s and 132 RBI’s while sporting a 7.6 WAR which was fifth in all of baseball. This stellar campaign earned him All-Star honors and even made him a finalist for the NL MVP. A trade out of Miami seems almost imminent at this point, but one big obstacle is the 13 year/$325 million contract he signed after the 2014 season, 10 years and $295 million of which remains.
Many teams are more than willing to take on this monstrous contract because of the player Stanton has become. Among those teams are the Red Sox, Cardinals, Giants, Phillies, and most recently, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
What the Marlins Get
The main pieces sent to the Marlins in this deal are outfielder Yasiel Puig, prospect(s), and possibly a pitcher to bolster Miami’s pitching staff. This should be more than enough to pique the Marlins’ interest, as new owner Derek Jeter has not even spoken to Stanton yet.
Yasiel Puig
As of the last offseason, the Dodgers almost gave up on Puig. He had become a locker room cancer, and it seemed like they were willing to trade him away for even a bag of baseballs.
He completely flipped the script this year, though. Puig finished the year hitting .263 with 28 HR’s and 74 RBI’s while stealing 15 bases. He also has a cannon for an arm and consistently throws out runners that should be safe by a mile. Yasiel also played very well in the 2017 Postseason, lighting a spark under the Dodgers’ offense at times when they most needed it. This performance also made his value jump up a good amount.
Another big problem that the Marlins have is fan attendance and the acquisition of the Cuban-born Puig would help this out a lot. According to the 2010 census, 6.5% of Florida’s population is made up of Cuban-Americans. This would be a big draw for the Cuban population, and Marlins fans would have to be insane to not go out and watch the polarizing “Wild Horse” that is Yasiel Puig.
Prospects and Pitching
This section of the deal is not so set in stone. A possibility here could be that the Dodgers give up their coveted number 2 overall prospect, Alex Verdugo, who is ranked 23rd in MLB’s top 100 prospects. Verdugo is a valuable piece though, and the Dodgers may want to abstain from sending him away so quickly.
Another possible option here could be the Dodgers’ number 5 and MLB’s number 76 overall OF prospect Yusniel Diaz. The 21-year-old is another Cuban-born player who had some good success between High A and Double-A ball this past year.
Since Diaz is not as highly touted as Verdugo, the Dodgers may have to throw in another prospect, or even a pitcher like a Brandon McCarthy or Hyun-jin Ryu who are more expendable with the depth of the Dodgers’ starting rotation.
What the Dodgers Get in Stanton
With trading away Puig, the everyday job of manning right field gets picked up by Giancarlo Stanton. Stanton can be slid into the top half of the batting order to create a menacing first 5 to face. Chris Taylor, Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Giancarlo Stanton, Cody Bellinger, and it does not even matter one bit what the rest of the lineup looks like. Just absolutely menacing to start off a game.
Stanton brings a big run-producing bat to the heart of this order, as he finished the season with 132 RBI, and Cody Bellinger led the team with only 97 RBI. With Taylor, Seager, and Turner and their propensity to get on base ahead of him, Stanton could easily crack 120 RBI yearly.
Miami is just not the market for Giancarlo. He would thrive in the spotlight in Los Angeles, the place where he grew up. We all know deep down Stanton would love to play for the hometown Dodgers, paired with the fact that he has had great success in Dodger Stadium, hitting .310 with 9 of his 27 hits there being home runs and 25 RBI (not to mention hitting one of the furthest bombs Chavez Ravine has ever seen). He really hit one out of Dodger Stadium, folks (sorry Mike Bolsinger).
All in all, this deal could get done sooner rather than later. Even though the Los Angeles Dodgers have the highest payroll in Major League Baseball, they still have cash and prospects aplenty to throw around to make this blockbuster happen. The rich get richer, the poor get, well, Yasiel Puig. If we do get to see Giancarlo Stanton rocking the Dodger Blue, the Dodgers will have more than enough star power to get back to the World Series and would be odds-on favorites to win it all.
Will we see a Golden State Warriors type scenario in the MLB? The rest of the National League may need more than luck and my prayers to get past this hypothetical monster Dodgers squad. It most definitely would be a fun time to watch these men amongst boys.
