No player is safe from the Major League Baseball offseason rumor mill.
Exhibit A: Giancarlo Stanton, who dominated headlines last winter, and now finds himself the subject of rumblings once again.
The New York Yankees slugger had a strong first season in the bronx — .266 average, 38 homers, 100 RBIs — but has faced criticism after an underwhelming postseason. And the Yankees front office might not be sold on the 29-year-old superstar, as the club might consider dealing him this offseason, The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo reported Saturday.
From Cafardo’s weekly MLB notebook:
“There are also long-shot rumblings about the Yankees trying to move Giancarlo Stanton,” Cafardo wrote. “Obviously it’s a massive contract, but if the Dodgers ever felt they needed to do something splashy, Stanton isn’t that far-fetched, since that’s one team to which he would likely approve a trade.
“Nor would it be far-fetched if the Giants wanted a big hitter to give their staggering offense a jump start, or if the Phillies decided to include Stanton on their list of superstars to acquire. Stanton has about $260 million remaining on his contract over the next 10 years. That would be cheaper than acquiring Machado or Bryce Harper.”
Admittedly, that’s as rumor-y as rumors get.
Still, with the Yankees clearly angered over the Boston Red Sox winning another World Series championship, fans should expect a busy offseason from the “Evil Empire.” New York reportedly already has its sights set on star free agents Manny Machado and Bryce Harper.
