The Hot Stove hasn't been very hot so far in the offseason, with no real signings or trades of great importance aside from the Mariners grabbing a power-hitting first baseman from the A's in a trade. The big name this offseason when it comes to trade rumors is, of course, NL MVP and Marlins superstar Giancarlo Stanton.
Things are moving slowly, as is to be expected, and the latest report has one team having submitted a formal trade offer.
It's the Giants, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (full story here, which is worth a read), with the Cardinals and Red Sox soon expected to follow with trade offers of their own. Rosenthal further reports that "other, unidentified clubs" will also submit offers and this is merely the beginning of the process (see, I said it was moving slowly). For now, Marlins president Michael Hill has told reporters he wants to see what types of offers they get (prospects, big-league players, monetary concerns, etc.) before deciding how to move forward.
Again, it's going to take some time.
The Giants coming in with the first offer isn't too surprising. No player on their team hit more than 18 home runs last season, and they were dead last in the majors with 128 homers. They slugged a paltry .380, again good for worst in the big leagues. The corner outfield spots were a big problem, too. Here's what the Giants got from each, compared to Stanton:
- RF: .255/.306/.354, 15 HR
- LF: .246/.299/.367, 11 HR
- Stanton: .281/.376/.631, 59 HR
Hoo boy, that slugging category really brings it home.
The Giants don't have much to offer when it comes to prospects or young big-league talent they could flip back, so it's going to come down to money. The Giants have deep pockets and might be able to swap back the Marlins someone like Johnny Cueto.
Stanton is owed $295 million over the next 10 seasons. The Giants have heavy commitments through 2021 ($75.6 million in salary already for that season), but not much past that.
Something to keep in mind is Stanton can opt out of his contract after the 2020 season, so both the Marlins and any potential trade partner are dealing with the possibilities of: A) Stanton opting out; or B) Stanton falling apart before then and not opting out.
It's complicated from every angle here, which is why it'll continue to move slowly. For now, we know the Marlins have at least one offer in hand to evaluate.
