Yankees insider proposes a couple of insane Giancarlo Stanton trades

Could these wild trade scenarios see the Yankees move Giancarlo Stanton?

It’s highly unlikely the New York Yankees are able to trade Giancarlo Stanton because of his contract (seven years, $218 million, though the Marlins are paying $30 million of that) and the fact that he doesn’t play the field anymore, but some out there are holding out hope.

Though Stanton had a torrid postseason, he’s still a weight on the Yankees’ future plans. He’s pretty much a $25 million designated hitter who has trouble staying healthy and is a redundant player in New York’s lineup (a lot of home runs, a lot of strikeouts, not much contact, lack of clutch hits for the most part).

If he can be traded, great. If not, the Yankees will live. He’s still a top slugger and arguably the most dangerous DH in the game when healthy. But let’s consider some INSANE trade scenarios, shall we?

Joel Sherman of the New York Post posed these two deals, and we’re honestly not sure how either would work. But it’ll be fun to break down!

Trade #1: Giancarlo Stanton and prospects to the Padres for Eric Hosmer and Wil Myers

Ok, so, this doesn’t help the Yankees out at all in terms of the short-term payroll situation, which is a much bigger concern than the long-term outlook. Myers and Hosmer will make a combined $40 million in 2021 and 2022, so the Yankees are actually adding money here — more than double, in fact! Stanton will make $19 million in 2021 after the Marlins pay up their $10 million.

On top of that … where are Hosmer and Myers going to play? Hosmer is a first baseman, so we’d have to move Luke Voit? Or maybe they both can split time at first base and DH? This seems a bit complicated.

And Myers is an outfielder. We don’t need more of those, especially ones as expensive as he is. The starting outfield is set at the moment and the Yankees could possibly bring back Brett Gardner or sign a more contact-heavy bat for a lot cheaper.

We’re just not sure how this will work unless Voit and Frazier are traded, and if you’re going to do that, you’d better get a damn good return.

Trade #2: Stanton and prospects to the Cubs for Yu Darvish, Jason Heyward and Craig Kimbrel

This one makes more sense than the first one, but it’s still problematic. We’re not sure why the Cubs would part with Yu Darvish, as both Jon Lester and Jose Quintana are hitting free agency. We’re not saying those guys are integral to the rotation, but getting rid of arguably your best pitcher after those departures kind of makes no sense.

Secondly, we love Jason Heyward, but where is he going to play? Like we said, the outfield is set. Unless you rotate him out there and at DH with Frazier, Aaron Hicks and Aaron Judge, then I guess you have your solution and don’t have to bring back Brett Gardner, but do we really need to do that? If you look at this through a “we’re always injured” lens, then that’s valid, but this isn’t really where the Yankees need to upgrade.

And Craig Kimbrel? Look, we know the Yankees are going to have to take it on the chin when it comes to any Stanton deal, but acquiring a high-priced reliever who is bad just isn’t on their to-do list. There are better, more cost-effective options in free agency. And what does this do for the Cubs? It doesn’t really make them any better. They should be moving someone like Anthony Rizzo or Kyle Schwarber, both of whom will be free agents soon — not guys under contract for a longer time that contribute (aside from Kimbrel).

So there you have it. People are going to be mad — not us, though! We’re just dissecting these to determine if they make sense or not. We can’t say they do, though we love hypothetical trades and will read any and ALL of them.

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