MLB: 5 questions about the Giancarlo-Stanton-Trade – The Empire strikes back

Giancarlo Stanton moves from the Miami Marlins to the New York Yankees in a blockbuster trade. The deal has far-reaching consequences, not only for the teams involved. What does that mean for the Marlins, why did the Yankees do it and what does it mean for the competition? SPOX answers the most important questions.

Outfielder Giancarlo Stanton signed a record $325 million 13-year contract with the Marlins before the 2015 season. Included: a full no-trade clause, an exit clause after 2020 and a team option of 25 million for the 2028 season with a $10 million buyout.

The surprising thing about this monster contract back then was the fact that the team under owner Jeffrey Loria, who was considered a notorious miser, had traded almost regularly renowned players just to get out of halfway expensive contracts. One rebuild followed the next.

So for a star player, this wasn’t really an organization you would have wanted to commit to in the long run. On the one hand, because you had to fear that shortly after signing the document, you would be sent away again – against your will – somewhere else. On the other hand, because with this philosophy team success is rather difficult to realize.

The deal for Stanton, the local hero in Miami, had to be seen in equal parts as a reflection of his athletic value as well as a kind of compensation for pain and suffering, because the situation in Miami was and still is extremely unstable. That’s why the No-Trade-Protection was so important for Stanton’s signature.

The Marlins were recently sold to businessman Bruce Sherman and a group led by Yankee legend Derek Jeter, who is now CEO. The first official act of the new regime was to save costs and to significantly reduce the payroll, which stood at 115 million dollars in 2017. According to reports, they’re planning to get under $60 million. That would be by far the lowest payroll in the league.

In this respect, leaving Stanton was always the best solution to get rid of a lot of money. Stanton earns $25 million in 2018, and due to the structure of the deal, he is still entitled to a total of $295 million.

The trade itself includes, on the one hand, the National League MVP, while the Yankees hand over All-Star-Second-Baseman Starlin Castro, pitching prospect Jorge Guzman and infield talent Jose Devers to the Marlins. In addition, the Yankees will take over 265 million of the outstanding dollars for Stanton – should 2020 not leave the deal. Only then would the Marlins have to transfer their 30 million to the Yankees.

Question 1: How did the trade come about and what does it look like overall?

Question 2: What does the trade mean for Stanton?

Question 3: What does the trade mean for the Marlins?

Question 4: Why are the Yankees doing this trade?

Page 5: What are the consequences of STanton-Trade for the rest of the league?