When the Miami Marlins put reigning National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton on the trade block at the beginning of the offseason, many teams showed interest, but the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants pursued him the hardest.
The Marlins reportedly agreed to the framework of trades with both teams, although one last hurdle remained as Stanton holds a full no-trade clause. On Thursday, Stanton reportedly had an updated list of teams he would approve trades to, and neither the Cardinals or Giants were on it.
Then on Friday, it was reported that Stanton was still possibly open to either of those teams, although that door shut quickly as he formally rejected a trade to the Cardinals. It appears he has now done the same for the Giants, as they released the following statement via Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle:
Our agreement with the Marlins to acquire Giancarlo Stanton subject to his waiving of the no-trade clause will not move forward and it is our understanding that the Marlins and Stanton are exploring other options.
The Giants made an appealing offer the Marlins, as they were willing to take on at least $250 million of Stanton’s remaining 10-year, $295 million contract in addition to offering their top three prospects.
But it seems Stanton is prioritizing winning, as the only four teams he is said to be willing to waive his no-trade clause for each participated in the League Championship Series’ this year: Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees and Houston Astros.
It has been known for a while that Stanton’s first choice would be to play for the Dodgers, as he grew up in Los Angeles rooting for them. But the Dodgers unwillingness to take on a significant portion of his salary due to their desire to get under the luxury tax threshold has held up a possible deal until this point.
It will be interesting to see if they ramp up their pursuit of Stanton now, especially considering they lost out on Shohei Ohtani.
