Miami Marlins: Why the Giancarlo Stanton trade isn’t so bad

After a blockbuster trade that sent baseball’s most marketable player to the most marketable franchise, Miami Marlins fans are left wondering: what now?

Nobody saw it coming. For weeks, the Miami Marlins appeared as if they’d be trading Giancarlo Stanton west. They reached agreements with both the St. Louis Cardinals, and the San Francisco Giants. Both were nixed by the All-Star slugger.

Late Friday evening, the Marlins started hammering out a deal with the New York Yankees. It was complete by Saturday afternoon. Miami Marlins fans were unhappy. When they saw what the Marlins got in return, they were up in arms.

While the Miami Marlins haul wasn’t what you’d expect for a player like Stanton, it wasn’t all that bad either. The deal lends some hope for the future.

In exchange for the reigning MVP, home run champ, Silver Slugger winner, Players Choice Award winner, (did I miss any?), the Miami Marlins didn’t get a pirates booty. Some would argue the pirates robbed the only booty Miami had on its roster.

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Miami also sent the Yankees $30 million, meaning the Bronx Bombers assumed $265 million of Stanton’s behemoth contract. 10-years, $265 million is downright palatable for a franchise flush with cash like the Yankees. New York fans should be thrilled.

But it’s not all bad news for Marlins fans either. They got back Starlin Castro, a player who produced 2 WAR, and will make $10 million next season. They’ll have no trouble flipping Castro and getting back some mid-range prospects from a team more equipped to win now.

That’s where the prospects in this deal will come, and if the Marlins are able to put together the right deal involving Castro, they should return multiple players who will appear on their top 30.

They also returned two prospects: Jorge Guzman, and Jose Devers. We’ll be taking a look at them separately soon. Stay posted for that.

The last firesale

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but this should be the Marlins franchise’s last firesale. For real this time. New ownership had to do this, and the sooner fans realize that, the sooner they’ll be able to get behind the Miami Marlins and give them the kind of support they need.

Derek Jeter is running the team now. If you didn’t realize this is what the franchise needed to do to become a viable business, you haven’t been paying attention. It hurts, yes. It stings, absolutely. But it was a necessary step towards competitive baseball and financial solvency.

Derek Jeter didn’t roll into town to be Jeffery Loria. This is the last one. From here on out, you can reasonably expect the Marlins to sign their stars to long-term contracts, and keep them around. But they’ll only be able to do that if people go to the games.

Next: There is not a Jeter-Yankees conspiracy fueling Stanton trade

If the Miami Marlins are able to get back MLB caliber prospects in exchange for Castro, and the two they acquired in this trade live up to their upside, they’ll be winning before long. The only difference is, it will be sustainable. Rather than rolling the dice, the Marlins are taking a more calculated approach, and that’s the right way to do things.