Marlins trade Giancarlo Stanton to Yankees

Previously identified as one of his preferred destinations, the New York Yankees hammered out the details of a blockbuster trade early Saturday morning for Marlins superstar Giancarlo Stanton. The full transaction, per reports from MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand and the New York Post’s Joel Sherman:

Marlins acquire

• 2B Starlin Castro
• SS Jose Devers
• RHP Jorge Guzman

Yankees acquire

• RF Giancarlo Stanton
• All the dingers
• $30 million (toward paying Stanton’s contract)

The deal is official. According to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag Sports, Stanton will make his debut in pinstripes on Monday at 2pm ET:

Castro is a decent player (batted .300/.338/.454 with a 110 wRC+ in 2017), but only a few months younger than Stanton (incompatible with a full-scale rebuild). He’s also a downgrade from Dee Gordon, who the Fish traded this week. The 27-year-old could be flipped to another club at next week’s Winter Meetings.

The Yankees’ farm system impresses in terms of both depth and impact talent. However, the Marlins missed out on the most desirable individuals. Guzman was the No. 9 prospect in their organization, while Devers was unranked, per MLB Pipeline.

Rather, their top priority was always to unload as much of Stanton’s contract as possible. They succeeded in that endeavor, convincing the Yankees to absorb $265 million out of the $295 million remaining.

Seems like an eternity ago, but early on Friday, the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals were believed to be realistic landing spots for Marlins superstar Giancarlo Stanton. What alternatives did he have? More than a month since Miami entered formal trade discussions, those had been the only two teams to submit formal offers.

In the estimation of Sirius XM’s Craig Mish, it was just a matter of whether Stanton would prolong the saga long enough to get his hometown Los Angeles Dodgers involved:

As noted by Sherman and several others, Stanton’s willingness to exercise his no-trade clause robbed the Marlins of whatever leverage they once had. Limiting the field of acceptable suitors—and understanding how desperate Derek Jeter’s ownership group is to cut costs—meant opposing teams could stay within their comfort zone.

If Stanton officially leaves South Florida after eight seasons, he does so as the franchise’s all-time leader in slugging percentage, total bases, extra-base hits, home runs, runs batted in, strikeouts, intentional walks and Wins Above Replacement.