Bowden: Marlins Should Offer Giancarlo Stanton 8-year $240M with No Trade Clause

Giancarlo Stanton has been the center of the Miami Marlins universe in 2014. He has put together an-MVP caliber season and is still seen as the favorite to win the award, despite a likely season ending injury.

Despite the domination at the plate in the present, the talk surrounding Stanton has oddly been about his future with the Marlins. There has been skepticism that the Marlins would A.) Offer a fair market value extension to Stanton, and B.) If Stanton were to actually sign that said extension with the franchise.

According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, the Marlins are still formulating plans on what kind of deal to offer Stanton, but any deal would be longer than four-years.

Jackson spoke to ESPN’s Jim Bowden about what kind of contract extension offer the Marlins should extend to Stanton this upcoming off-season, and this is what he said:

"“That starts the ball rolling,” Bowden said. “It’s pretty hard as a human being, with two years left [before free agency], to turn down $240 million to $300 million.”"

Though Stanton is just two years away from collecting an even bigger sum on the free agent market, Bowden mentioned that the facial injuries he sustained should be “a reminder to Stanton [of] the importance of security and the risks of waiting until free agency.”

The no-trade clause is something the current Marlins front office has been adamantly against giving out, as it usually traps the team if a contract goes array. The Marlins are not alone in this policy, as the Los Angeles Dodgers have a similar policy. The difference is that players trust the Dodgers, but they don’t trust Marlins owner Jeffery Loria.

Stanton seems to be willing to give the Marlins a fair chance to extend him this off-season, but he would prefer to see that owner Jeffery Loria is committed to winning before he considers any offer from the team, according to Jackson.

Before his season was cut short due to injury, Stanton owned a .288/.295/.555 slash line with a .403 wOBA. He led the National League with his 37 home runs and 105 runs batted in.