Forum Capture: Should the Royals Make a Play for Giancarlo Stanton?

 

Publicly, Miami is saying that they are not trading Giancarlo (fka Mike) Stanton. But, if you’re going to blow things up why not trade the 1 piece that will net you the biggest haul? Stanton, in his age 22 season, just hit 290/361/608 with 37 HRs in 123 games. And oh-by-the-way, Stanton has saved 26 runs in RF in his 2 1/2 seasons thus far according to BIS.

Miami is clearly not planning to contend in 2013, by 2014 Stanton will start to get expensive (first year arb eligible), and you’ve already pissed him off so he’s not going to be signing any long term extension.

Why would KC trade for Stanton when they already have 2 RFs and are desperate for starting pitching? I’ll get to that in a second…

I imagine just about every team in baseball is calling the Marlins right now to check on Stanton, so it would take a substantial package. After the blockbuster trade the Marlins have several holes to fill, including CF and bullpen immediately, and 3B long-term.

With that in mind, how about an offer of:
1) Lorenzo Cain – plugs CF right now, has upside both ways and 5 more seasons of control.
2) Kelvin Herrera or Yordano Ventura
3) Choice of 2 of the following:
Jorge Bonifacio, Orlando Calixte, Cheslor Cuthbert, Elier Hernandez, Patrick Leonard, Donnie Joseph, Robinson Yambati, Angel Baez, Justin Marks, Bryan Brickhouse, or Mike Montgomery.

That’s 2 cost controlled major leaguers and 2 nice prospects. Is that a reasonable offer for the best young RF in baseball? Considering the underwhelming return they got for trading 5 players, 3 of whom are established MLB stars, it doesn’t seem so bad.

Now, what would this do for the Royals?

A) It allows them to trade either Wil Myers or Billy Butler for a frontline starter without hurting the offense; or
B) It gives them one helluva lineup and makes a bold statement that KC is a contender which should help to entice a couple of free agent pitchers to sign.

How about a lineup of Escobar – Gordon – Stanton – Butler – Hosmer – Sal – Moose – Myers – Gio?

Myers would have to play CF, which is probably sub-optimal, but DM said on the radio recently that Rusty Kuntz insists he can handle it. Since Rusty is the one that turned Gordon from a below average 3B into a Gold Glove outfielder I’m gonna play along.

Am I crazy?… yeah probably.

edit – found this on mlbtraderumors.com today:

“Olney says it would be a shock if the Marlins don’t trade Giancarlo Stanton at some point in the next 20 months. He’s not happy with the team and is unlikely to sign a long-term contract.”
Read more at http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/#rPDDczt3hvgAkGvp.99