The Miami Marlins in some sense were backed into a corner after Giancarlo Stanton officially informed the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals he would not waive his no-trade clause to join either team.
It left the Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees as the reported teams Stanton would approve a trade to. By early Saturday morning, the Marlins and Yankees were said to have all but finalized a trade.
While the teams were engaged in discussions, reports varied on how serious or close they were to reaching an agreement. The Dodgers, as they have been for much of the Stanton saga, were still believed to have some involvement.
Although the Marlins are looking to shed salary in a Stanton trade, the Dodgers and Yankees were presumed to want to send a bad contract or two in exchange for the slugger.
According to Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY Sports, the Marlins were against taking on Jacoby Ellsbury or Adrian Gonzalez:
The #Marlins don't want #Yankees Ellsbury or the #Dodgers Gonzalez
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 9, 2017
Both Ellsbury and Gonzalez have no-trade clauses, which like Stanton, would require them to sign off on any deal. They also are largely without a clear starting job with their respective teams.
Where they differ is Gonzalez is entering the final year of his contract. Meanwhile, Ellsbury is owed $21.1 million in each of the next three seasons, and his deal includes a $21 million club option for 2021.
Whether the Dodgers, Yankees, or another team, the Marlins will likely need to soften on their refusal of not taking on so much as one bad contract. An alternative may be Miami agreeing to pay a significant portion of Stanton’s remaining $295 million salary.
