4 blowup trades Yankees must consider if Aaron Judge is ruled out for 2023

Offer to eat $30 million to ship Giancarlo Stanton out

It's sad to say, but it's evident Giancarlo Stanton's best days are far in the rearview. He returned from the IL on June 2 and still can't play every day. So what's the point? Why even entertain the remote possibility he'll remain a fixture in this lineup through 2027?

When Stanton's hot, this Yankees team couldn't look better. When he's cold, this team looks its absolute worst. And he's been far more cold than hot ever since 2019. He's hamstrung the flexibility of the lineup being locked into the DH spot with his constant injury troubles giving the Yankees hesitation about using him in the outfield -- and he needs to play defense, because it directly correlates to a positive uptick in his offense.

If you're paying Stanton the full price of admission ($26 million AAV from now through 2027), you're at a loss. If you're being hesitant about using him on defense, you're at a loss. If he's on the IL, you're at a loss. So why not see if another team will take him at the deadline? If the Yankees toss $30 million in a deal to get rid of him, that makes Stanton a $17 million AAV player for the rest of his contract. Wouldn't a least a couple teams be willing to entertain that?

Maybe not. But there's no winning with Stanton on the Yankees. His inability to stay healthy has cost this team dearly (and it doesn't help that the Yankees' medical staff is arguably the worst in the sport). If he can't play regularly when he's healthy, then what's the point? If the team is going to continually proceed with caution with somebody they view as a key component of their lineup, then they're doing it wrong. Either he's contributing 100% or not.

The bottom line is one of the supposed best hitters in the league can't be holding a team back for this many reasons. The sooner the Yankees can free up this money assuming things progressively go south, the better off they'll be for it as they figure out their future outlook with Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole atop the payroll.

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