Former fan-favorite Yankee wonders if Giancarlo Stanton wants to be traded

Opinion after opinion hit the timeline on Tuesday after New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman did his best to put on some sort of disastrous performance art in front of the media at the GM Meetings without fully melting down.

After the fallout of that incident, many fans were worried. Is Cashman OK, or is he broken? Are the Yankees just going to operate in the same exact manner, push back on changes, and insist their ways are superior and nobody else knows what they're talking about? But seriously, is Cashman OK?

But, above all else, many are wondering about the roster. There's not much flexibility for the Yankees to make overarching, desired changes. The free agent class isn't plentiful. New York doesn't have many tradable assets, and even if they did, the front office probably wouldn't make good deals.

One fan on Twitter asked WFAN's Keith McPherson if the only way the Yankees would "wake up" is if Aaron Judge requested a trade. McPherson responded emphatically, not only asserting Judge would never do that, but also making his stance known: Gerrit Cole isn't opting out of his contract after 2024 and Anthony Rizzo, DJ LeMahieu and Giancarlo Stanton want to finish their careers in the Bronx.

We wouldn't necessarily disagree with that, but former fan-favorite Cameron Maybin chimed in to offer his insight, and he's not sold on one of those guys wanting to be here much longer.

Former fan-favorite Yankee wonders if Giancarlo Stanton wants to remain in New York

That sure sounds like Maybin has an idea Stanton either wants out before his contract ends or cannot wait to sign elsewhere when his deal expires. Then again, we're not sure if he'll be playable come the 2028 season.

However, we'd like to take a moment to rebut Maybin, if we may. While Stanton does deal with an inordinate amount of unwanted criticism that's completely misplaced and acts as low-hanging fruit for angry fans ... please show us a fanbase out there that would "appreciate" the fact he's played in only 391 out of a possible 708 games. That's 55%. He's available for half the time, and for a small percentage of that availability he's permitted to play defense.

There's no question Stanton has handled himself to the utmost standard of professionalism as he's dealt with the unrelenting criticism and frustration, but at what point is that no longer enough? At what point does that appreciation expire?

The man is collecting checks for a $325 million contract. He's put forth 2.5 good seasons in New York since arriving back in 2018. Yes, he's been a great postseason hitter for the Yankees, but he's also disappeared or was unavailable for the most important series during this current window, the 2019 ALCS post-Game 1.

We get that he's unfairly targeted because of his contract, swing-and-miss optics and injuries, as well as the Yankees somewhat restricting themselves financially because of his money (which isn't his problem), but if he's feeling underappreciated here and wants out, that might be the trade that saves Cashman's spiraling popularity rating among the fans.