REPORT: Stanton a Possibility for the Cubs
Let me help you… “He costs too much!” “The Cubs don’t have the prospects!” “No way!”
Ok, that last one was more me than a prospective reader. In either event, there is a report out there (this is the third one I’ve seen recently, I had mostly ignored it until now) which is connecting the Chicago Cubs and Miami Marlins slugger, Giancarlo Stanton.
It is believed that Giancarlo wishes to play on the West Coast (Best Coast! Sorry… lived a year in California…) and teams like St Louis Cardinals and the New York Yankees have the best shot at him. But enter Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Nick feels that the Cubs have a shot at Stanton.
Stanton does have a full no trade clause, and he would need to waive it in order to go to any team. While he certainly has his preferences (West Coast, apparently) he’s more interested in winning than sunny weather.
“I don’t want to rebuild. I’ve lost for seven years,” Stanton said last month.
Stanton wants to play for a contender, in fact a major selling point to Stanton signing his epic deal (13 yr $325 million, which $295 million remains). Stanton was promised that the team would “build around him,” which never quite happened.
So how in the world can this work for the Cubs? Well, it is a long shot, but there is certainly truth to the rumors that the Cubs would be all-in on Bryce Harper if he were available after the 2018 season. Bryce will exceed the deal Stanton received, barring something insane, so Stanton in turn, would be a bargain in a sense. And it would take is some prospects…
Nick mentions that the Cubs have some players, “the Marlins would love to get,” and this continues my mid-season point of – this organization is still stacked. With the Cubs in a win now mode, they have dealt their top prospect each of the last two years, and the team did it twice this July. Along with that is a narrative that the Cubs organization is empty.
That narrative isn’t wrong, but it’s far from right.
The Cubs have several guys in Low-A that project out well. Now I would be the first one to say guys like that have a slim chance of developing to their potential, but there are attractive pieces there. The team would likely deal players from off their MLB roster as well. We could see guys like Kyle Schwarber or Albert Almora go to Miami in such a deal. In fact, Almora is a Florida guy. Born and raised in Hialeah, a 20 minute drive to Miami.
It wouldn’t surprise me if the Marlins would accept a contract of someone like Jason Heyward or Ben Zobrist in return. This could help offset the salary difference, and help Miami’s younger players learn from solid veterans. What I would like about Heyward, outside of the obvious offensive upgrade, is the Heyward money can help offset the Stanton deal. It would be less than a $5 million difference in salaries, well, until 2023 when Stanton has five more seasons under contract.
If I were to weigh the possibility of this deal happening, I’d put it at a 2 on a 10 point scale, but it’s certainly interesting to think about. I mean, imagine a lineup that had Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, then Giancarlo Stanton back-to-back-to-back!?!? Wow.
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