What Should the Marlins Do with Giancarlo Stanton?

Giancarlo Stanton isn’t the only human being that’s furious over the Miami Marlins‘ recent transactions which most notably saw them deal Josh Johnson, Jose Reyes and Mark Buehrle to the Toronto Blue Blue Jays. Or in other words, Miami just betrayed their fans and players. While the fans do matter, you would have to think that Stanton’s words have a bit more meaning than any other figure or figures. And Stanton is not pleased. He sounded off on his Twitter account a little over a week ago, saying that “he’s pissed off.” The slugger doesn’t have to say much more. Perhaps the next words out of his mouth could be a trade request. That isn’t too far-fetched at this point either, and the idea is something that Miami’s management should highly consider in coming weeks. At the moment, there’s no wrong choice in terms of trading Stanton or retaining him. The fans are already peeved off, and trading their cornerstone piece probably wouldn’t change the fans’ state of mind. However, Miami would be wise to deal him now because his value is inordinately high. Not only is he under team-control until 2017, but he is also just 23-years-old, making him one of the youngest position players in baseball. Those two things, plus his off-charts power, automatically draws interest from practically 70-percent of the 30 teams in the majors. Plus, the Marlins would presumably receive a surplus of elite prospects for Stanton. So, it’s a win-win situation. Well, losing some of the likes of Stanton isn’t exactly a win, per se. However, with their recent trades, there isn’t a vivid time-table as to when they will be contenders. The only thing that’s vivid is the fact that it won’t be in the near future, barring any big additions, of course. A competitive Marlins team might not be formed until 2017 which would be Stanton’s final year in Miami assuming that they don’t trade him or he doesn’t sign an extension, which also isn’t likely according to multiple reports. So, why not trade him now and begin more dreadful years instead of retaining him but continue to lose? Basically, keeping the powerful Stanton around would be a waste. Sure, he would put the remaining fans in seats, but that’s about it. And from his perspective, why would he want to play in Miami? He would have minimal lineup protection, and even if he does compile some great seasons in the future, he won’t get recognized on a losing team, nor will he have a chance to taste the playoffs. Over the past two years, Stanton has been the Marlins most productive player. This season, he led the National League in at-bats per home run with 12.1 at-bats, and slugging percentage (.608). Naturally, he finished second in the N.L with 37 home runs despite suffering many minor injuries that caused him to miss games on occasion. On that note, the fact that he’s injury-prone might be the only blemish on his report card. Those numbers are great and all, but whose to say that he will continue to put those types of numbers up if he is unhappy? At the moment he is already angry, but if a request to be traded comes along, Miami would be silly not to fulfill his request. Simply put, a player who is unhappy creates clubhouse drama, and with a new manager taking the hot seat this upcoming season, it would be Ozzie Guillen part two. Except, Guillen is elsewhere. However, trading Stanton would surely be a hard task to accomplish mentally. Remember, we’re talking about the future face of the MLB, potentially. Letting someone go with that tab is just hard. But it needs to be done. Stanton is ready to move on, and the Marlins should follow his suit. Original article: What Should the Marlins Do with Giancarlo Stanton?©2012 FootBasket. All Rights Reserved.The post What Should the Marlins Do with Giancarlo Stanton? appeared first on FootBasket.