MLB Trade Rumors: Yankees to pay majority of Stanton’s $295 million contract
The New York Yankees will pay the vast majority of the $295 million remaining on Giancarlo Stanton’s contract with the Miami Marlins.
The Yankees and Marlins have agreed a deal to send 2017 National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton to a New York team that was one win away from making it to the World Series, per multiple reports.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal is now reporting the Yankees will pay $265 million of the $295 million still owed to Stanton by the Marlins. That’s a huge figure, but still may require New York to pay no more in luxury tax than they paid for Matt Holliday and Starlin Castro last season, per Joel Sherman.
Source: #Yankees taking $265M of $295M owed Stanton.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 9, 2017
If that’s the case, the Yankees may still be able to make a move for soon-to-be free agent Manny Machado or Bryce Harper, a scary thought considering they just added Stanton to a lineup already containing MVP contenders Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez.
I believe when this is complete Stanton plus min wage type who starts at 2b will cost #yankees as much toward luxury tax threshold as Holliday and Castro cost last year.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 9, 2017
Stanton batted .281 with 59 home runs and 132 RBI in 2017, on the way to his first MVP award. He will join a Yankees team that must now be considered among the favorites, if not the favorite, to win the World Series in 2018.
2017 was expected to be a rebuilding year for the Bronx Bombers, but they proved to be a postseason contender, riding an extraordinary season by rookie sensation Judge to a Wild Card berth, and only exiting the playoffs in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, when they lost to the Astros.
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Judge, who hit .284 with 54 home runs and 114 RBI, was the star in a lineup that also contained another MVP candidate in Gary Sanchez. As if the Yanks’ new-look lineup wasn’t scary enough, Judge, Sanchez and Stanton are 25, 25 and 28 years old, respectively, meaning they’re likely going to terrorize AL pitchers for the next several seasons at least.