Stanton: Jose Fernandez predicted I'd be a Yankee

Giancarlo Stanton completed one last piece of business from his old life as a member of the Miami Marlins on Sunday night when he officially accepted his 2017 National League MVP award at the Baseball Writers' Association of America dinner.

But while the newest member of the New York Yankees accepted his honor in his new hometown, someone who wasn't in the room was on his mind.

In his acceptance speech, Stanton revealed that his good friend and former Marlins teammate Jose Fernandez - who died in a September 2016 boating accident at age 24 - had predicted he'd don the pinstripes. In fact, Stanton said, the pitcher envisioned that they'd get to the Yankees together.

"He said, 'If this doesn't work out down here (in Miami), I'm going to be a free agent and I'm going to be with the Yankees, and I'm taking you with me,'" Stanton said, according to Newsday's Laura Albanese. "Now that I'm here, I'm going to take a little piece of him and bring it with me."

Stanton and Fernandez became very close during their time as teammates in Miami. Stanton was openly emotional following Fernandez's death, and penned a moving tribute to his friend on Instagram; since then he's continued to memorialize Fernandez in many ways, including the design of a wall mural in Brazil during the 2016 offseason.

Sunday night was all about Stanton, who earned his first MVP by hitting .281/.376/.631 with a league-leading 59 homers and 132 RBIs for the Marlins last season. The 28-year-old cited his late friend as motivation behind his spectacular 2017 campaign.

"This has been an amazing ride," Stanton said. "(Fernandez) was a big factor in achieving this and doing something special for him, that was a big part of this season."