Yankees: The back end of Stanton contract won’t be an albatross

When the Yankees came in out of nowhere to acquire reigning NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton, many fans celebrated the Yankees’ return to being the evil empire and the AL East favorite.

However, some fans worried about the possibility of having acquired another Jacoby Ellsbury. With 10 more years on Stanton’s contract as he enters his age 28 season, many fans, including myself initially, worried about having to pay a 37-year-old 26 million dollars a year. However, after seeing how little the Yankees had to give up to get him, I decided that being so close to a championship, adding Stanton puts the Yankees over the top to win a championship even if it means having a large contract down the line.

However, just because Stanton will turn 30 in two years, that doesn’t mean that the Yankees will have eight years with an albatross contract. It is hard to remember that just two years ago, the Yankees rode great seasons from 35-year-old Mark Teixeira and 39-year-old Alex Rodriguez to the Wild Card. In 2016 40-year-old David Ortiz led the MLB in OPS. Just last year 33-year-old Joey Votto led the NL in OPS. I could go on listing players that had good seasons past their age thirty seasons, but I’d be here all day.

So even though teams are wary of older players, it’s not because they can’t play well. It’s just more likely to find a superstar that is young and affordable than it is to find an affordable superstar on the free agent market. One reason why J.D. Martinez took so long to sign was because of his price and his age. If the 30 year-old Martinez was two or three years younger asking for the money given to players in arbitration he probably would have signed much more quickly because he would have gotten the number of years he was looking for.

Does this mean Stanton will hit 50+ home runs for the next 10 years?

No. If he does, he’d break Barry Bonds’ record. If that happens we’d all be celebrating. However, with so many injuries in his history, it is hard to imagine him producing great seasons like last year for the remainder of his contract. However, even when Stanton is past his prime, he is less likely to be another Ellsbury because of his power. Speed is something that everyone will agree decreases with age. Power and a good eye tend to stay with a player even as they age.

Carlos Beltran was a 30-30 threat every year for his first few Major League seasons. However, as he got older, he went from a gold-glove caliber outfielder to a defensive liability (The Astros even held a funeral for his glove). Even in his age 37 and 38 seasons, he was one of the Yankees’ best offensive players. He managed to put up an OPS+ of 120 in his age 38 and 39 seasons as well.

With power and a good eye as his main attributes, Stanton has a chance to keep contributing good seasons for years to come. His fielding and overall production may go down, but he will still likely be a 30+ HR threat every year even into his late thirties.

Next: What effects does the signing of Neil Walker have on other players

Even if down the line Stanton is forced into a full-time DH role, the Yankees can look forward to many more years of production from Giancarlo Stanton.