On Sunday it was reported that the Miami Marlins were close to finalizing a deal with either the San Francisco Giants or St. Louis Cardinals for superstar Giancarlo Stanton.
Stanton holds a full no-trade clause though, so no deal could be made without his approval and it is believed that he would like to play for his hometown Los Angeles Dodgers.
But the Dodgers have been slow in their pursuit of Stanton, as they may be unwilling to take on his 10-year, $295 million contract.
With the Giants and Cardinals pursuing Stanton so hard, it was believed that if the Dodgers did have interest, they would need to get involved sooner rather than later, but it appears that is no longer the case as Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports is reporting that a deal isn’t close to being finalized:
Miami Marlins megastar Giancarlo Stanton met late this week with two of the most aggressive teams in pursuit of him, but while there’s a report a trade could happen in “two or three days,” sources familiar with the talks suggest that is quite a hopeful estimate.
Though the Marlins are surely comfortable they can make trades with the Giants or Cardinals, people involved in the talks insist that at least as of today, there’s nothing close to being finalized.
Stanton really holds all the cards in this situation, as if he vetoes trades to both the Giants and Cardinals then that could drive down the price of the Dodgers to acquire him.
If the Dodgers do get involved though it won’t be because they’re worried about him potentially playing for the rival Giants, but rather that they feel he is a franchise player that they can build around for the next 10 years.
