Giancarlo Stanton wasn’t a happy camper when the Marlins traded away basically their entire team earlier this offseason, and it doesn’t appear that time has healed his wounds.
Stanton, who has been the subject of trade rumors amid Miami’s fire sale, understands there isn’t a whole lot he can do about the club going in a much different direction than last offseason, when the Marlins dished out $190 million to field what they hoped would be a contender for their new ballpark.
“All of the spotlight was on us last year,” Stanton told USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. “This year, it will be like all of the other previous years.”
The Marlins have drawn a lot of criticism this offseason for their radical approach. Despite their spending spree during the 2011 offseason, the Fish have shed $242 million since July, most of which came during a blockbuster deal with the Blue Jays. Miami sent Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, John Buck and Emilio Bonifacio to Toronto. The Marlins also traded away Hanley Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez in the middle of last season.
All of these deals immediately led to questions about whether the Marlins would look to move Stanton, although he’s widely considered to be one of the franchise’s cornerstones. Stanton tweeted shortly after Miami’s trade with Toronto that he was “pissed off.” The 23-year-old outfielder admitted Tuesday that he’s still angry about what transpired.
“Yeah, it’s tough,” Stanton reportedly said. “You deal with what you got. You realize that’s the business side.”
Stanton was apparently unwilling to come out and say publicly that he wants to be traded, instead opting to focus on developing further.
“My preparation will be the same,” Stanton said, “so there’s no difference for me.”
Stanton, while unhappy, made clear that he’s tuning out the rumors, saying that “people take everything out of proportion.” For now, he’s hoping to further solidify himself as one of baseball’s bright, young stars, and his first crack at doing that in 2013 will be for Team USA during the World Baseball Classic.
Photo via Facebook/Giancarlo Stanton
