Let me start by saying that I understand how unpopular this move would be. Then again, it's tough to believe that the Marlins ownership and front office could be any less popular than they are after the latest and most galling roster teardown. With so much of the team's veteran core now gone, it's tought to think that the Marlins are going to be all that competitive in the near future. I feel bad about this, I really do. It sucks that Marlins fans were seemingly duped. However, with so many holes on the roster now, it's really tough to see any less than 90 losses the next two seasons no matter how many homers Stanton hits.

There is hope, though. The Marlins have done a decent job of stocking up the farm system. With Yelich, Turner, Fernandez, Marisnick, Hechavarria, Nicolino, Eovaldi and some others on the way, it's not totally out of the question to think that the Marlins should be able to rebuild with this next wave of talent. However, a lot (and possibly all) of these guys are going to be in AA or AAA to start next season. The 2013 Marlins aren't going to benefit a lot from them. The 2014 Marlins probably aren't going to benefit a ton from this group either. They could be in Miami by mid-2014 but can you rely on this group (or any prospects) to really contribute during their first exposure to the big leagues? This group probably wouldn't be ready to really compete in the majors until 2015 at the earliest and more likely not until 2016. This means they will get paired with Stanton for one or maybe two years if you get lucky.

If, however, you were to ship out Stanton now, he would bring back an absolutely MASSIVE return. A guy this young and this talented is almost never made available. Just as an example, Bucs Dugout has been discussing Stanton as a potential trade target and offers including Starling Marte, Jameson Taillon and Alen Hanson (together, not as individual centerpieces) are being discussed as legitimate. Returns like this are how Texas managed to turn Mark Teixeira into the core of two AL Champions. By shipping out Stanton now when his value is highest and the Marlins' outlook is bleakest, you could create a window you'd get 3-4 prime years with an even more promising group of prospects instead of 1 or 2 years with the current group plus Stanton. Thoughts? (*Sorry for the strange formatting. Ever since SB Nation made it's switch, I can't get FanPost paragraphs to work the way I want them to)