Four Teams Inquire About Stanton

Giancarlo Stanton might be on the move this offseason. That is, if a team is willing to take on his massive contract.

So far this offseason, the Marlins have seemed to make it a priority to move Stanton and get rid of his contract and get a lot in return.

Sporting News and MLB Network is reporting that four teams have reached out to the Marlins about Stanton and those teams are the Red Sox, Cardinals, Giants, and Phillies, though talks will not go deeper until after the GM Meetings on Monday in Orlando.

The leading getter seems to be the Phillies, who have ramped up talks and are the most likely team to take on his 13-year, $325 million contract.

The Red Sox are interested primarily because they need another slugger. Sox owner John Henry and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski did say at the beginning of the month the team is willing to increase its payroll in an effort to get more hitting and if that means going after Stanton, then so be it.

The other two seem to be further down the list, as the Giants really can't take on that much money in an offseason where they're trying to give money to other players to rebuild their team. The Cardinals are also a good fit but I'm not sure they're willing to take on that much money either. The Cardinals can win on low payroll. We've seen it happen on many of their World Series teams.

In terms of who should land Stanton, I would not want him on the Giants, just because I'm afraid they'll still do poorly with him in the lineup. The Cardinals I could give or take. The Red Sox intrigue me just because of that increased payroll they are willing to do. And that leaves the Phillies, who I believe are likely to get them, though I can't understand why.

The Phillies have been in rebuild mode for the past couple of years. Yes, they've got young and upcoming players but what does the Phillies brass think they're getting by bringing in Stanton? Maybe more power, but the rest of the lineup has to contribute as well and at times last year, they really haven't. I'm okay if the Phillies get him, but because they are rebuilding, is it really worth the effort to go after Stanton, a guy whose contract makes teams second-guess getting him?

I really like Giancarlo Stanton. He's a great power hitter and a good defensive player, but he also fetches a large price and that's why he got so much money from the Marlins. He could be traded this offseason but I will not be surprised if he doesn't. Money plays into all these decisions and the other teams could very well pull out if they don't like what the Marlins are asking for in return.