The Miami Marlins were looking for a trade partner who could relieve them of most of Giancarlo Stanton’s $295 million deal. That mission appears to be accomplished.
According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports and the Athletic, the Yankees are taking on a massive amount of Stanton’s contract — at least $260 million of it and possibly even more.
Hearing #Yankees taking vast majority of $295M owed Stanton. One source says $260M. Another says $273M.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 9, 2017
This is likely the reason that the deal with the Yankees will get done, while nothing could come to fruition with another prominent high-payroll team that has been carefully watching their luxury tax number. The Marlins badly wanted this contract off the books, and Stanton’s no-trade clause gave them very little leverage. They’ll be absolutely thrilled to get almost all the money off their payroll, even if the return in terms of players is less than what a player of Stanton’s caliber would normally command.
