Marlins aren't trading Stanton.

I've been beating this drum for a while, and the fact that Miami traded everyone BUT him pretty much solidifies his spot in Miami's awkward stadium for the foreseeable future.

You'd need to put together a package that replaces his WAR and his "surplusage." He's making basically nothing. You'd need to almost find 10 WAR/ year to even have a comparable offer. You'd need an age 25 Adrian Beltre playing for free + Profar... it doesn't exist.

Don't you all see what the Marlins do? They trade away players when it looks like they are going to have to pay them. They don't trade away players when they are cheap. It doesn't matter who the players are, or even if they are any good. Stanton isn't even arb-eligible yet. The Marlins are not going to trade him. It doesn't matter what you offer. This is who the Marlins are, and they aren't going to trade Stanton just because you want them to.

Well, they ARE going to trade him. They dont keep ANY players. Even if they are in the miguel cabrera territory. But they ARENT going to trade him this season. Hes FA eligible after 2016, so after 2014 IMO, hes gone. But no sooner.

Two part trade resulting in Stanton to Ranger:

Olt plus two PTBNL to MIA, Stanton to TX

Simpson buys $20mm art object or semi rare coin from Loria.

$25mm purchase and replace Olt with Sardinas.

Profar, Olt, Grimm, and the perfectly-preserved body of Jimmy Hoffa for Stanton. Who says no?

If you have the real Jimmy Hoffa, in mint condition, I don't think you need to include Profar.

Marlin's KEEP Stanton. He's CHEAP intill 2016. They get much more talent
later by keeping him. He'd easily command similar specs to Teixera to Braves.
NOW? Start with *TWO MLB TORPS... that ain't gonna happen, although
Oakland A's would have the Best Shot at this Dream Trade. East/West Crazies.

If somehow the rules allowed it, and the Marlins were allowed to post Stanton with his current contract/service time and a sealed bidding process commenced similar to the Yu Darvish bidding what do you think the winning bid would be? Easily higher than Yu's $50 million? $75 million? $100 million? 4 years of team control at about $30 million through the arbitration process? Are those 4 years worth $100 million?

It would be interesting, and $$$$ is the only way I could see the Marlins giving up Stanton.

Miami is willing to shop Logan Morrison:

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/11/marlins-shopping-morrison-nolasco-may-be-traded.html

Plays LF/1B, LH'ed bat with power but iffy plate discipline, 25 when the season starts, etc. He struggled through knee problems all last season and that probably accounted for his limited range in LF and his poor hitting:

http://www.fishstripes.com/2012/10/19/3519282/2012-miami-marlins-season-review-logan-morrison

Seems like another Moreland hitting-wise but defensively Morrison plays a better LF than 1B instead of vice versa. They're trying to move he and Ricky Nolasco together in a package (they want to dump Nolasco's salary), but Nolasco is pretty bad, e.g. his WHIP was 1.37, so I wouldn't take him.

Absolutely not in Morrison. He's no upgrade over anything we have.

As I said earlier, I'll bet a lot of GMs have been calling about Stanton, in hopes of getting more from him than the Braves did from Tex, for a fortune in prospects. It could be a shrewd move if Miami truly wants to rebuild, but I can see them wanting to build around him. It depends on how much they want to solidify their farm. Being cheap, being awesome, and having several years of control left, they could seriously bring in a huge, huge haul that could, potentially, set them up big time.

But they probably won't. And he's the only player left on the Marlins that anyone wants. Not really interested in Logan.

No way we'd take on the last $11M of Nolasco's contract...unless they're parting with Giancarlo.

At this point, Miami has almost no salary whatsoever for 2013. Nolasco will make $11.5M, Escobar $5M, Hechevarria $2.75M, and then it's $1.5-1.6M for a couple and even less for everyone else.

The question I'd have is: does Miami now become a competitive BUYER for a prime free agent or two? Their payroll could be as low as about $42M as is, and the fire sale may be over with room to buy some talent.

In analyzing their thinking, while they got rid of some talent, is there anyone sent to Toronto that is clearly a bargain? If you look at 2012 WAR results (which I didn't take the time to do), perhaps everyone sent to Toronto was overpaid based on mediocrity-injury issues. If that's true, maybe Miami simply found someone to clear out all their overpaid except Nolasco in one fell swoop and allow them to start over ...and starting over could include spending on talent.

Thats a good thought David, but if you were a free agent would you want to sign there seeing what they just did to the other guys that trusted them last year?

I guess some guys would be willing to take a retirement contract and not care if the team competes for a couple of years or if they get shipped off and have to relocate their family, but I don't think any of the premier guys would. They're now on their 5th manager since 2010. I just don't see a lot to like in that organization right now.

This will indeed give some pause for free agents looking at Miami, but at the end of the day money talks and it's still MIAMI. Boras and his clients will take the biggest offer every single time with the exception of Jered Weaver. And of course Miami will have inherent advantages over many smaller, colder markets. I definitely believe more free agents will fall into the Marlins' trap before Loria finally sells the team. Maybe they'll break the bank on Hamilton then trade him to Seattle next year for an Ichiro bobblehead.

Send Mike Olt, Martin Perez and Gentry to the Marlins for Stanton and throw in some cash for Stanton. They Marlins are in love with prospects and if they are truely rebuilding this could be the way to go. By bringing in Stanton you can move Kinsler to CF and Profar could fill in at 2B and Andrus stay at SS (you would have your middle infield locked up for the next 10 years) Could you imagine the numbers Stanton would put up in Arlington..... Rangers need to make this happen even if they have to part ways with Andrus or Profar. Stanton will be the next Miguel Cabrera!

Yeah right, Will. That won't even come close to getting Stanton. Not even close.

Also, I'm not sure Ian profiles as a CF. Running across someone in CF that's excellent on both offense and defense is a true rarity today, Trout being probably the most notable one. Here are the CFs from this year that had wRC+ > 110 and UZR > 4: Trout, Harper, and Jackson. Guys like Gentry and Bourn are decent with the bat but not amazing. Guys like McCutchen, Kemp, and Jones are excellent with the bat but bad at CF. Many of these guys could probably play a COF spot okay.

CF is notably harder than the corner OF positions. For example, Josh's UZR in LF this year was 0.2 (pretty much average) but was -12.6 in CF (terrible; 3rd worst among qualified CFs, just ahead of Fowler and Granderson).

So, defensively, I have no doubt Ian could probably play passable if not good defense at a COF spot, but I doubt he's still spry enough to play CF like we'd want him to.

Stanton straight up for MY.

Allows the Marlins ownership group to say, "See, we weren't just salary dumping, we're trying to get the 'right kind of guys' (because everyone who knows anything about baseball knows MY is the right kind of guy), and we're committed to winning, no matter the cost..." while they give a big smile and middle finger to their fan base. They might do it. Apparently their only objective is lying to/alienating/pissing off their fans.

Michael Young is a professional hitter. He is old-school, a hard worker, and plays the game the right way. He is a clubhouse leader and respects the game. He is not just an athlete, but a real baseball player, and he is the right kind of guy you want on your team.

Which ONE would be a BETTER Choice... Stanton or CarGo?
The right offer (pitching) could/may land either.

CarGo's numbers are hard to ascertain because he plays in an anti-gravity park. Also, obviously he's really good, but he will cost a lot if we take on his contract, not to mention even with that contract we would have to overwhelm the Rockies.

Unless the Rockies essentially want to dump him, I want no part of this. Stanton would cost us more than him, but wouldn't strap us nearly as much financially, and his ceiling is arguably higher.

Stanton's ceiling dwarfs that of Carlos Gonzalez. But since Cargo is so cheap (in relative 2012 terms), the Rockies would be foolish to move him.

Also, as much as Colorado has inflated CarGo's offensive output, I feel like you guys are forgetting that Arlington is basically the AL version of Coors. That argument is flawed.

CarGo's #s away from Coors Field are not that good- do not go after him! Plus the Rockies would want way too much for him and he wouldn't be worth it. Kinsler open to a position change.. Or throw Cruz into the deal with Olt Perez and Gentry. Bring in Stanton and take on Nolacos contract and pursue Grienke!