South Florida national sports radio host Craig Mish has been the reporter closest to the Giancarlo Stanton sweepstakes over the past few weeks, and joined Murph & Mac on Monday morning with some good news for Giants fans.
As has been previously reported, Stanton — who has the power to veto any trade — is still most interested in playing for the Dodgers next year, but Mish broke down two reasons why this remains unlikely. First, that the Marlins and Dodgers haven’t had any “real discussions” that he’s aware of, meaning the Dodgers are probably not that interested. Second, that the Marlins know a trade with LA would be far less favorable than one with San Francisco or St. Louis.
“I haven’t heard that,” Mish said when asked by Brian Murphy about discussions between the Dodgers and Marlins. “But in the discussions that I’ve had, the Marlins know that doing a deal with the Dodgers will be their least favorable one, regardless of what they get back in terms of prospects. You have to believe that players like Adrian Gonzalez and potentially Brandon McCarthy, Scott Kazmir, Hyun-Jin Ryu, these are all contracts that the Dodgers would love to dismiss, and I don’t think that they can take Stanton unless they do that.
“So then the question becomes can the Marlins take back some of these guys and really flip them somewhere else, because Adrian Gonzalez is not going to be the first baseman for the Marlins, it’s going to be Justin Bour. So then essentially what we’re talking about is okay there’s a wash there with Gonzalez’s contract and Stanton’s — or close to it, $20 plus million — Marlins get Gonzalez back so what, now they’re calling American League teams?
“It’s very complicated and the Marlins I don’t think want to be back in that position but they may have no choice, because if Stanton doesn’t say yes to the Giants or the Cardinals, then his only other option is to sit and I can tell you that’s one of the most asked questions I get so let me give you the answer, he’s not going back to Miami. Not happening.”
If that is indeed true, if Stanton is only willing to play in LA next year then that’s where he’ll be, regardless of what it would mean for Miami. However, if Stanton is willing to play for San Francisco, it would appear based on these — and previous — reports, that they remain the overwhelming favorite.
Ultimately it’s up to Stanton, and we should have an answer before midweek.
Source : Stanton trade expected to be finalized in the next 2-3 days.
— Craig Mish (@CraigMish) December 3, 2017
Listen to the full interview below
