The GM and winter meetings in baseball are some of the most exciting times of the baseball season. It is during this we have blockbuster trades that go down (see Chris Sale trade) and GM's start to talk with players about joining their team.
Personally, it's my favorite time of the baseball season since I'm just so fascinated by all the rumors that go on.
The Red Sox always tend to find themselves even whether it's a big trade or talking with top-notch players. This year's meetings hot commodity is Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton. Stanton is a stud hitter that would absolutely solve this team's power problem it lacked last year without David Ortiz. However, with a player of Stanton's caliber, comes the hefty price tag. This can include giving up young assets or eating some of his contracts. It makes perfect sense for the Sox to go out and get this kind of player since they can but you can also make a case for why you shouldn't. What I plan to do, is give you insight on both sides of the debate to help you decide.
First, let's start with a couple pros on why to get Stanton. If you get Stanton, he will be above and beyond your best hitter. This team severely lacked power last year ranking 27th in home runs with 168 and in the middle of the pack when it came to hitting ranking 13th batting .258. Whereas in 2016 (when they had Ortiz), they ranked 9th in home runs with 208 and 1st in hitting with a .282 average. Obviously, Stanton and Ortiz are different players, but it shows when this team has a power hitter in their lineup, it affects everyone and this whole team clicks. Assuming this team gets Stanton, he'd bat at the 4 spot since that's where your power hitter tends to be. Two players occupied this spot and they were Hanley Ramirez and Mitch Moreland. Hanley hit here the most (282 games) and batted .239 with 13 home runs and 36 RBI's while Moreland hit here in 198 games and batted .227 with 12 home runs and 22 RBI's. Stanton last year batted .281 with 59 homeruns and 132 RBI's. Stanton's stats would be an automatic upgrade over these two at this spot in the order. Sure, you'd still have to put Ramirez in the lineup since he's under contract, but the fact you don't have to rely on him as your power hitter is perfect for him. Hanley doesn't seem to like having it all be on him even though he acts like it. When Ortiz was the guy for power, Ramirez hit .286 with 30 home runs and 111 rbi's. I think it was because having his friend Ortiz around helped but it also was that the spotlight for the offense wasn't on Hanley too and he was able to produce. Adding Stanton will obviously improve this team offensively and the way Fenway is set up, he will only be able to continue to thrive offensively there. Plus the fact he hits his home runs to the left side more, he'd be able to easily clear the Green Monster since in most ballparks hitting to the monster is a pop-up. With the shorter distance of the wall, Stanton can easily launch them into the Fenway night or off the wall for a classic Fenway double. Real quick on his defense too, shockingly, his defense is actually really good. Stanton had a .988 fielding percentage last year which would rank near the top for the Red Sox where Betts had a .987 fielding percentage. If you were able to get Stanton, you'd be able to platoon him with an outfield of Betts, Benitendi, and Stanton all of which had a fielding percentage above .970.
Of course, when trading for a star player, there are going to be negatives. Here's a couple of noticeable ones. First, the package you'd have to give up for Stanton would be crazy. This has already been made true according to Buster Olney who's said the asking price is already shockingly high.
While you have Chris Sale on this team, it'd have to take a package like that but Dombrowski has more or less cleared out the farm system. Right now if it was my guess, the offer would be Jackie Bradley Jr / Xander Bogarts, Eddy Rodriguez, maybe Devers and a top prospect.
This is definitely a lot and if you'd have to give up a core of your infield this could be a problem. Bogarts has been the team's best shortstop after the Nomar era. Ever since Nomar left, it's always been a revolving door and finally, with Bogarts you have a consistent shortstop and losing him, opens that revolving door again. This is something that I don't think ownership and some fans would like to see.
Devers has also been a nice surprise for the team and could be the third basemen of the future. Sandoval was a clear disaster and ever since the team made Sandoval a starter last year, it felt like another revolving door at third. Once Devers was called up, he thrived and was clearly the team's best hitter in the playoffs too.
Sure his defense needs improvement, but that can be easily corrected unlike hitting. The fact he's a power-hitting third baseman of the future makes it hard to lose for sure. What also would make this trade hard is the fact Stanton is due $295 million for the next 10 years. That is a ton of money for any team to cover and if the Marlins aren't willing to take on at least some of that contract, makes the trade not worth it. Right now the Red Sox are paying $75 million in dead money for Sandoval and bust international signing Rusney Castillo.
Adding Stanton's contract to this, you may not have enough money to resign your star players like Betts who's contract expires next year.
Obviously, we see there are clear pros and cons for adding a player like Stanton. He can help the team going forward and the future, but at what cost? Only time will tell if Stanton will come here. In the meantime, let us enjoy the rumors and speculation.