Miami Marlins Trade Rumors: Giancarlo Stanton not sought, prospects offered for Jon Lester

Giancarlo Stanton is still a Miami Marlin, and the Boston Red Sox knew General Manager Dan Jennings wouldn't trade his star right fielder.

Citing a major league source, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reported the Red Sox did not look to add Stanton before Thursday's non-waiver trade deadline.

According to a major league source, despite the strong interest from the Marlins regarding Jon Lester leading into the non-waiver trade deadline, the Red Soxnever engaged Miami in talks for outfielder Giancarlo Stanton.

Boston was looking to add an outfielder with a consistent bat, and did so by acquiring Yoenis Cespedes from the Oakland Athletics early on Thursday afternoon. The Red Sox are among the teams who have been linked to Stanton in the past, notably last offseason when the Marlins were considering trading for Will Middlebrooks to fill a hole at third base.

Stanton's mindset has reportedly changed since the start of the season, since Miami has remained competitive to this point. Before exploring a long term deal, Stanton wanted to ensure the Marlins were going in the right direction, and after seeing progress, Stanton is "all in" on staying in Miami long term, according to Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe.

While in pursuit of a controllable starting pitcher, the Marlins considered trading for Jon Lester and John Lackey, although a deal was never made. Bradford noted that the Marlins offered one of the better prospect packages when discussing the possibility of adding Lester.

Along with Baltimore, Miami extended the best package of prospects to the Red Sox for Lester before the Sox decided to go with Oakland offer of Yoenis Cespedes for the pitcher and outfielder Jonny Gomes.

With Miami’s motivation for acquiring Lester clearly appearing to be built from a desire to convince the Marlins’ fan base they were making a run at the playoffs this season, there was no indications that Stanton was going to be made available.

Since Stanton was not involved, what Miami could have offered to try and acquire Lester remains unknown. The Marlins made Stanton, Casey McGehee, and Christian Yelich "untouchable," meaning they may have put together a package of pitching prospects.

Considering Boston's desire for outfield depth, Jake Marisnick was likely involved in any discussion. Andrew Heaney, Justin Nicolino, Anthony DeSclafani, and Adam Conley are all minor league names that could have been involved.

Before Lester and Lackey were dealt, it was reported that the Marlins considered trading for both starting pitchers, meaning the package discussed was likely valuable.

Miami found a starting pitcher in Jarred Cosart, and held onto Stanton, among others. The organization didn't want to trade players on their 25-man roster, which is an indication of the team's optimistic mindset moving forward.