MLB.com’s Marty Noble wrote a piece that the Mets should try to make a push to acquire Miami Marlins budding superstar slugger Giancarlo Stanton.
Stanton is just 23 years old and has shown mammoth power in just three professional seasons.
But hold on, the Marlins have already traded the rest of their star players. Why would the team part ways with its only young power bat?
Well, Stanton is a hot commodity right now, and the Marlins are in a position in which they certainly won’t be competitive (at least on paper) for the next few seasons.
So from the Marlins’ standpoint, building around the young slugger will make for a competitive team when Stanton enters his prime.
If he were to be traded, however, the Marlins would demand a package of a number of stellar prospects as well as cash. But as of now, we can only gauge on how many prospects or how much money it would take to get a deal done.
Obviously, all 30 teams would salivate at the chance to acquire Stanton at the right price, since he’d first be eligible for salary arbitration after the 2013 season.
From the Mets point of view, if a deal can somehow be worked out, I’d say do it.
Not too often does a young power hitter become available before he’s eligible for free agency. Of course though, it would take a hefty package to acquire Stanton.
The Mets have a surplus (albeit small) of young pitching prospects including Zack Wheeler, Jenrry Mejia, Jeurys Familia, Collin McHugh or the newly-acquired Noah Syndergaard. Matt Harvey can even be thrown in that mix as a young pitcher in the organization.
Naturally, if the Marlins ask for three or more of these prospects, the Mets should shy away. But for two – maybe one of Wheeler or Harvey and one of Mejia, Familia, McHugh or Syndergaard – and cash (though the Mets don’t have much), a deal would make sense at least for the Mets.
Likely it would take at least three of these pitching prospects and maybe a few offensive prospects to get a deal done. If the Marlins’ demands are through the roof, maybe it’s best to stay away.
If Stanton does become available, we know the Evil Empire would be involved. Stanton could easily hit 50 home runs playing in Yankee Stadium.
But based on the power he’s shown, even the cavernous Citi Field would be no match for Stanton.
At this point, it’s just wishful thinking. But who knows? The Mets and Marlins have made deals in the past, so can they agree on one more?
