Steve Mitchell – USA TODAY Sports
The Miami Marlins have no business throwing Giancarlo Stanton a long-term contract worth upwards of $150 million. To be honest: what in the world would something like that accomplish? I understand that Stanton is a fan-favorite, who has the potential to smash over 40 home runs a season for a long time, but he’s not someone that will make or break Miami’s franchise.
Let’s get one thing straight: Stanton can’t hit free agency until the end of the 2016 campaign. That is an eternity in baseball years! In fact, the 24-year-old slugger is likely to be a completely different player a few years down the road as he begins to mature and/or break down. Therefore, the Marlins’ decision to avoid arbitration and sign Stanton to a one-year, $6.5 million contract was just a brilliant move.
By doing this much, the franchise gives itself another year to decide what exactly the decision in going to be in regards to Stanton. Surely, the goal is to have him playing in a Marlins’ uniform until he retires, but this approach allows Miami to have all of the leverage as it can now see for itself if Stanton is really worth the price tag currently attached to his name.
Fans must remember that the Marlins aren’t like the New York Yankees because a long-term contract for Stanton could set the franchise back five years considering the team’s lack of revenue where as the Yankees can just right it off as a bad day. Miami doesn’t want a repeat of 2011 as the contracts of Jose Reyes, Heath Bell and Mark Buehrle are exactly why Stanton is being slow-played.
Devin O’Barr is the Content Commentator for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @DevinOBarrRS, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
