Neil

A SHOCKING TRADE THAT WON’T BUT SHOULD HAPPEN

Image courtesy of MLB.

It’s no secret that Giancarlo Stanton has been a disappointment so far in New York. This offseason Bryce Harper and Manny Machado are hitting free agency and while the New York Yankees can afford either one with Stanton under contract, it would make things a lot easier with more available payroll. Besides what about future extensions for Aaron Judge and Luis Severino?

It’s very likely that Stanton just can’t adjust to the pressure of playing in New York, and may be better off going to the team that he really wanted to be traded to: The Los Angeles Dodgers. LA’s outfield is currently a patchwork of question marks: Matt Kemp is riding a BABIP that is almost 100 points higher than average and he is a liability in the field, Cody Bellinger may not be the star that he looked to be last year, Yasiel Puig is too inconsistent and is headed for free agency after the season, Enrique Hernandez is not a starting quality player and neither is Joc Pederson, Chris Taylor is better off in that role as well. They could use an impact middle of the order hitter and Stanton is that guy. New York has a glut of outfielders with Brett Gardner, Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, Clint Frazier and Jacoby Ellsbury on top of Stanton. What New York needs however is starting pitching.

What about this trade? LA trade Alex Wood, Yasiel Puig and Logan Forsythe? This matches up New York and LA nicely salary-wise and makes sense. New York now has freed salary going forward and can use Wood in the rotation. Puig replaces Stanton until the end of the season or can be flipped, Forsythe can be flipped as well. LA replaces Puig (who they probably won’t re-sign anyway) with Stanton, get rid of Forsythe and trade Wood, who with their surplus of starters they can definitely spare in my opinion.

LA’s rotation and lineup/batting order would then look like this:

Clayton Kershaw

Rich Hill

Ross Stripling

Kenta Maeda

Walker Buehler/Hyun-Jin Ryu

SS Chris Taylor

1B Max Muncy

3B Justin Turner

RF Giancarlo Stanton

LF Matt Kemp

CF Cody Bellinger

C Yasmani Grandal

2B Enrique Hernandez

P

New York’s rotation and batting order/lineup:

Luis Severino

Masahiro Tanaka

Alex Wood

CC Sabathia

Sonny Gray

LF Brett Gardner

RF Aaron Judge

SS Didi Gregorius

C Gary Sanchez

2B Gleyber Torres

3B Miguel Andujar

RF Yasiel Puig

1B Greg Bird

CF Aaron Hicks

NOTE: this article was written before Stanton’s home run on June 20.

What do you think about this trade? Let me know in the comments and on Twitter @NeilfromNYC

17 comments

  2. “It’s very likely that Stanton just can’t adjust to the pressure of playing in New York…”

    I don’t think “very likely” means what you think it means. Just sayin’.

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  3. Wood leads LA in IP and is arbitration eligible next year. Stanton might not opt out if the market correction against older players continues. That contract will be hard to live up to. F&Z know this. There would have to be minor league pieces bound for Dodger Blue if this framework were to have half a chance of passing the sniff test.

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    • Not at all. IP don’t matter here, just because Wood pitched more innings, doesn’t mean that they won’t trade him to get a middle of the order bat that they badly need. Wood isn’t an ace so is expendable. Stanton is the best player in the trade and the contract is reasonable.

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      • Says a Yankees fan. Yanks gave up zero for Stanton because of that huge contract. He was a MVP. Now he’s not and you think he’s worth more? Homer logic.

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      • It’s silly to think that his value dropped after 3 months. The reason why he was traded for “nothing” was because Miami couldn’t afford him and had to trade him. New York doesn’t have to trade him and LA are in desperate need of a middle of the order bat.

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  4. Never going to happen. Main reason is that even at that, the Dodgers #1 priority is going to be keeping Kershaw in the fold. And Stanton is still a strikeout machine and they have plenty of those, Grandal, Bellinger and Taylor on the roster right now, and Kemp has not been a defensive liability. He has been pretty good out there this year. And forget even smelling Buehler. No way he gets traded. Ryu is a free agent at the end of the year.

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    • They should run from Kershaw actually, if he opts out then they should let him walk and I think that they will. They need a RF with Puig hitting free agency and power.

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  5. Cashman stashed Stanton for LAD because the Dodgers needed to stay under the luxury tax cap. I assume the understanding was the 2018-19 offseason trade between the two would be Stanton for Buehler straight up. Now Buehler’s too valuable to the Dodgers, but pitching is still going to be the whole show for the Yankees, so no Puig, no Forsythe, none of that. They don’t need position players from LAD, just arms. I don’t follow either team, just this little bit of interesting logrolling that the FOs appeared to be up to.

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    • I like your thinking and despite Stanton’s recent improvements hope that you’re right. Buehler probably won’t be involved but maybe Stripling or the deal that I suggested.

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