Report: Yankees making progress on trade for Stanton
The Bronx Bombers might be about to flex their muscles again.
One day after it was reported Giancarlo Stanton would approve a trade to the New York Yankees, sources told Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports the Yankees and Miami Marlins are making progress on a deal for the reigning National League MVP.
Despite the apparent sudden spike in momentum, a source told Passan nothing has been completed yet. A Marlins source told Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic the teams are "talking, (but) not close."
While specifics of the talks aren't fully known, MLB.com's Jon Morosi reports Yankees second baseman Starlin Castro's name has been mentioned in discussions. None of the Yankees' top prospects would be involved, according to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports.
There are plenty of Marlins-Yankees connections serving as subplots in this saga. Derek Jeter, the legendary ex-Yankees shortstop and former team captain, is now the Marlins' part-owner and CEO; Jeter has since brought a number of old Yankees employees with him to Miami, including his new director of player development, Gary Denbo - who left the Yankees in October and knows their prospects quite well.
But while the Bronx dreams of a Stanton-Aaron Judge power tandem, the remaining 10 years and $295 million on Stanton's contract might be a problem in these negotiations - even for the very rich Yankees. It was reported in September that New York was planning to try and get under the luxury tax in 2018.
To that end, Andrew Marchand of ESPN reports the Yankees would have to shed some of their high salaries - including, perhaps, those of Castro, Jacoby Ellsbury, Brett Gardner, and/or Chase Headley - in a possible trade involving a third team before taking on Stanton's contract. Miami has not shown any interest in taking on any of those deals, reports USA Today's Bob Nightengale.
Ellsbury has reportedly not been asked by the Yankees to waive his own no-trade clause, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.
The Yankees entered the Stanton derby in a big way Thursday night when it was reported by Craig Mish of SiriusXM the 28-year-old would approve trades to four teams: the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, and Yankees.
Related - Report: Dodgers remain involved with Marlins over Stanton
Meanwhile, two of Stanton's most ardent suitors, the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants, announced their exits from the race on Friday after it was revealed the slugger wouldn't waive his no-trade clause to join either team.