The Yankees make history, not rumors. And yet, the Hot Stove is deluged with reports that Giancarlo Stanton is on the block. Who said so?
If the Yankees are indeed ready to trade Giancarlo Stanton, it’s a mystery to me as I tried my best to find a credible source who can put truth to the claim. More often than not, we get the MLB Rumors page hooking up with a story published by the Boston Globe’s, Nick Cafardo announcing the Yankees interest in trading Stanton “to make room for Manny Machado and Bryce Harper.”
The trouble with Carfardo’s story et al. is that (as you can see), nowhere in his story does he quote anyone even remotely associated with the Yankees. Instead, he offers a scenario in which the Yankees could consider trading Stanton. Which is fine, except it only serves to add to the ever-circulating rumors we encounter during the offseason.
Curiously, it was this writer who wrote a piece in March of this year shortly after Stanton arrived in New York, in which I claimed Giancarlo Stanton was destined to be a one-year rental for the Yankees. After which, and with an eye to the lucrative free agent market we are now experiencing, they would seek to unload his salary, venturing towards a Machado and Harper.
What did I know? I knew nothing other than a hunch this would make sense for the Yankees. For the readers, this can often cause a problem – especially if they are not aware of where the information is coming from. Would they assume (incorrectly), for instance, that I have a source inside the Yankees organization feeding me this information?
Will we ever learn to believe that only half of what we ever read is right? And maybe even in the age of “fake news” and social media blasts that come without thought or direction, the percentage can be far less? Who has the time or the energy to research and verify that what we read is true?
Nick Carafardo may indeed be on to something. After all, he’s not proposing the Yankees are on the cusp of trading Aaron Judge or Gleyber Torres, something easily dismissed by anyone with an ounce of baseball acumen.
He’s talking about Giancarlo Stanton, who the Yankees inherited with an auspicious contract generated by, perhaps, the most selfish owner MLB has ever seen, in Jeffrey Loria of the Florida Marlins. Look for yourself, and you’ll quickly see how Stanton’s back-loaded deal relieved Loria of any substantial dollar weight while transferring the bulk of the contract to Derek Jeter, who happily passed the baton to the Yankees.
So, now it’s the Yankees turn to pass the baton – if they want to? After all, how many high-priced superstars can any team, even the Yankees, support? Maybe the overzealous owner of the Phillies, who exclaimed he is ready to spend “stupidly” to improve his team, will decide to pursue Stanton – AND sign Machado, who I’m afraid would change the face of the Yankees franchise forever, and Harper. Now there’s a rumor – who wants to start it?
But that’s the point, at least with the Yankees where Brian Cashman has a clear strategy in mind for the Yankees offseason. Long before the rumors surfaced, did Cashman have in mind to listen to offers for Giancarlo Stanton – maybe.
But, we’ll need to sit back and wait and see. Because Brian Cashman seldom shows his cards, and when he does it’s with a purpose as he’s done by publicly removing Sonny Gray from the Yankees even before he’s traded.
It’s a whirlwind during the Hot Stove, and we all need to be careful. One thing I’ve learned about the Yankees, though, is when I see it I believe it. So, when I saw Cashman consummated the deal for James Paxton, I could only say to myself – Holy cow, did I miss that rumor?
Which, of course, I didn’t because there never was one.
Written by Steve Contursi, Editor
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