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Five Reasons Giancarlo Stanton to the Minnesota Twins Makes Little Sense
Five Reasons Giancarlo Stanton to the Minnesota Twins Makes Little Sense
Typically it is around the end of July when ridiculous trade rumors get floated around—due to the trading deadline occurring at the end of July—but it seems that this year, ridiculous rumors are seemingly never stopping. I stumbled upon this story when I was surfing the internet today and although it doesn’t fully classify as a rumor, its premise is surely flawed.
According to an unnamed baseball executive, the Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox would be two of the few teams in all of baseball who could acquire Giancarlo Stanton if the Miami Marlins decided to trade their star outfielder. According to the executive, ““The Red Sox might be in a better position than the Twins because the Twins have to rely on their top players to come up and man several positions. The Red Sox have veteran players so their need to keep their best guys isn’t as severe. So if they can trade them off for a young player like Stanton, they wouldn’t have to fear about thinning out as a result.”
I would tend to agree with the executive that the Red Sox would be more likely to give up top players because they aren’t as reliant on them to come up and play as significant of a role, but to think that the Twins would even be mildly interested in acquiring Stanton, if he even comes available, is the issue that’s flawed. As a result, I have compiled a list of five reasons why Stanton to the Twins makes little sense and why it will never—I repeat, never—occur; sorry dreamers!
Brian Wille is a Minnesota Twins writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @BeeWill15 or “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
5. Stanton’s an Outfielder
Outfield is arguably one of the Twins’ deepest positions in the organization and currently, their top prospect—Byron Buxton—plays in the outfield with youngsters like Oswaldo Arcia and Aaron Hicks already clamoring for playing time in a crowded lineup. Adding Stanton would surely require losing some of those prospects, but the team still has plenty of potential outfielders left on the roster and adding another one isn’t high on their list of things to do to improve the team.
4. Acquiring Stanton Would Not Help the Team
Although the Twins’ lineup hasn’t produced the type of numbers that the organization had envisioned this season, they still aren’t the major problem that is dragging this team and organization down. The main problem continues to be starting pitching. By acquiring Stanton, the Twins would likely have to sacrifice some of their top positional and pitching prospects which would lead to their pitching depth being even more unstable and unpredictable down the road. Stanton would be a nice bat in the middle of the lineup; but if the rotation continues to give up more runs than one additional potent bad can add to the lineup, the deal is not worth it and the Twins will continue to struggle.
3. The Twins Cannot Afford Stanton Long-term
Stanton is under control with a modest salary until 2017. This year he is making 537,000, but he surely isn’t happy or content with that. With that in mind, there is no doubt that Stanton would want a new deal once he gets to Minnesota. He may not get the deal he is looking for from the team; but if he doesn’t, he surely will elsewhere once he demands a trade or leaves via free-agency. The Twins’ payroll could certainly support another huge contract, since baseball has no salary cap, but the ownership would never approve of it; thus, Stanton would price himself out of the Twins’ future and the team will have sacrificed top prospects for a three-year rental. That doesn’t sound like good management tactics to me.
2. Stanton’s Not Worth It
Stanton is a young and very talented player, but he isn’t worth the type of return that the Marlins are looking for in any deal. There is a reason the Marlins have hung onto him this long and have refused to deal him to other contenders who would be more willing to deal for him and that reason is because the price tag is going to be steep and not everyone can afford it. The Twins are one of the few teams that can afford Stanton, but that doesn’t mean that they should acquire him just because they can. Stanton certainly hits for power—averaging 20 HR or more during his first three seasons at the majors and topping out at 37 HR last season—and can drive in runs—Stanton drove in 87 and 86 runs respectively over the last two seasons—but his numbers don’t indicate that he is a superstar worth selling the farm over like a Miguel Cabrera. Stanton’s career average is .265 and only last year, when he hit .290, did he actually hit for a decent average. For a team that strikes out a lot like the Twins, they would need more from their superstar than .265. Miguel Sano may one day have a similar stat line to what Stanton does and the Twins already have him under their control. Acquiring Stanton may sound like a sexy move, but it will not produce the sexy results.
1. The Twins Would Need to Give Up Too Much to Acquire Stanton
The Twins have put together one of baseball’s top farm systems and already sport a young team at the majors this season. In order to acquire Stanton, the team would surely have to surrender a plethora of their top prospects. The result would be a depleted farm system for a player that likely will not want to stay in a small market on a losing team. As I stated before, Stanton alone will not make the Twins a better team and acquiring him would require sacrificing so much of the future that the future would then be in jeopardy thus ensuring mediocrity over the foreseeable future. The bottom line is this: acquiring Stanton may seem like a good idea—like chugging an Icee—but the end result will not justify the means of acquiring him. As a result, Stanton to the Twins makes little sense and the probability of it occurring is extremely unlikely.
