The San Francisco Giants’ pursuit of Miami Marlins superstar Giancarlo Stanton has heated up in recent days. It began with a report of the Marlins said to be willing to accept a package from the Giants comprised of second baseman Joe Panik and prospects Tyler Beede and Chris Shaw.
One complication to a deal between the Giants and Marlins being completed is Stanton’s full no-trade clause. Moreover, it’s believed one of his top priorities is to play for a winning team.
The Giants finished with the second-to-last record in baseball this past season, were 40 games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West standings, and don’t boast a strong farm system.
Nonetheless, San Francisco has remained aggressive in their pursuit of a Stanton trade. Members from their front office reportedly met with the 2017 NL MVP’s representatives in Los Angeles on Thursday evening.
It’s currently unknown if Stanton was sold on their pitch, but it appears the Marlins are still trying to swing a trade with the Giants as they have narrowed down their focus on four prospects in addition to Panik, via Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald:
Marlins have narrowed their focus on some combination of these Giants prospects in any trade for Stanton: RHP Tyler Beede, 1B Chris Shaw, OF Heliot Ramos and C Aramis Garcia. 2B Joe Panik could ended up being included in a deal.
— clarkspencer (@clarkspencer) December 1, 2017
According to Baseball America, Beede and Shaw are the Giants’ second- and third-best prospects, respectively, going into 2018. Meanwhile, Heliot Ramos and Aramis Garcia are not in the organization’s top 10.
Stanton may be holding out to see if his hometown Dodgers get in the mix, although they are said to be taking a laid-back approach at the moment.
If the Giants have it their way, the Dodgers will have wait too long to get in on the action and have to pitch to Stanton 19 times a season for the next 10 years.
