Rumors have been swirling that the Miami Marlins might trade their slugger Giancarlo Stanton with the Boston Red Sox being one possible destination for the home run king.
Despite Boston’s hot month and relative outburst of scoring, the Red Sox would be much better off with a power hitter in the lineup as they remain in the American League cellar for home runs with just 130.
Combine that with the fact Boston continues to be a top three franchise in the majors in payroll each year, is why the Red Sox are a logical landing place for Stanton if he were to be traded.
Stanton at 27 is entering his prime, but injuries also have played a role over his career with Miami. However, just once has he played fewer than 100 games in any one of his seasons in the majors, so the injury prone status he is labeled with, may not be justified.
The biggest reasons that the Red Sox might not want Stanton are they have a young right-fielder who has star status in Mookie Betts and the bigger reason of the two, the absurd contract that Miami agreed to sign with Stanton.
He has close to $300 million remaining on his current contract that could be through 2028. However, he has in 2020 an opt-out clause he could activate.
While Boston is not shy when it comes to large salaries, they have not had the best of luck when it comes to big deals over the past 5 to 10 years and particularly with position players, who include Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Pablo Sandoval.
That is why they likely did not risk Miguel Cabrera’s contract during the trade deadline in July and why there is a hesitation on their part to bring Stanton to Fenway.
Betts playing right field is not a big issue. Stanton could take over the DH role that David Ortiz left behind over a season ago and has not been adequately filled.
Stanton holds a no-trade clause in his contract, so he would want to go to a winner and if so would be willing to play a different position occasionally.
Boston has the third highest current payroll at $199 million behind the Dodgers and Yankees.
