Fresh off a World Series appearance, the Los Angeles Dodgers entered the offseason with no glaring roster needs. Nevertheless, the club reportedly entertained the idea of acquiring reigning National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton.
Stanton, a Panorama City, Calif., native, reportedly preferred to be traded to the Dodgers above all other options. But he eventually approved a trade to the New York Yankees after the Dodgers wouldn’t budge on the Miami Marlins’ insistence to absorb the majority of Stanton’s contract over the next 10 years.
The Dodgers passed on the opportunity with the task of clearing salary to avoid exceeding the luxury tax threshold for the 2018 season, and recently accomplished that goal with the unloading of Charlie Culberson, Adrian Gonzalez, Scott Kazmir and Brandon McCarthy to the Atlanta Braves.
Though Stanton will don pinstripes next season, an executive ultimately believes that he’ll wind up with the Dodgers sooner rather than later, via Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe:
You hear a lot of stuff at the Winter Meetings. Here’s one rumor told to me by a longtime, major force in the baseball world. It involves the Yankees and Giancarlo Stanton. The story goes that after 2018, the Yankees deal Stanton to the Dodgers and sign Bryce Harper. Your first reaction is, “Wow! Never happen.” Then you start to think about it. Stanton is an LA kid. The Dodgers didn’t have great interest in Stanton this offseason, but perhaps by the end of next year? The Yankees have always coveted Harper and his lefthanded stroke at Yankee Stadium. It starts to make more sense, doesn’t it?
Prior to their acquisition of Stanton, New York was long viewed as a potential destination for Bryce Harper, who headlines a star-studded free agency class next offseason.
But with the 2017 home run champion now in the mix, the prospect of Harper joining the Yankees is less certain than ever before. In addition to Stanton, the Yankees already account for a glut of outfielders in Jacoby Ellsbury, Brett Gardner, Aaron Hicks and Aaron Judge, to name a few.
Not only that, but Harper is expected to command the largest contract in professional sports history. Even for the Yankees’ standards, it would be difficult to dole out a record-amount of money to Harper, in addition to employing Stanton, who’s owed $295 million through 2028.
Whether the Yankees seriously entertain the idea of trading Stanton in favor of Harper remains to be seen, but the Dodgers are in an excellent position moving forward regardless of what may unfold over the next 12 months.
