Miami Marlins: Giancarlo Stanton press conference caps bitter farewell

The Miami Marlins are no longer in the Giancarlo Stanton business. His introductory press conference as a member New York Yankees was painful.

The Giancarlo Stanton saga was drawn out and exhausting. Miami Marlins fans teetered on the edge of “will he, won’t he?” for weeks, all the while knowing the answer.  It came to a resounding and surprising conclusion on Monday afternoon.

The deal was already in place as early as Saturday afternoon. Miami Marlins fans grappled to come to terms with the departure, and lamented the return-on-investment for their beloved superstar slugger. Meanwhile, we would learn, Giancarlo Stanton joyously packed his bags.

In his introductory press conference, an outspoken Giancarlo Stanton didn’t dance around his frustrations with the Miami Marlins organization.

In fact, he was downright candid. Marlins fans gained a lot of insight into the inner-workings of how trade talks progressed. And Stanton, no longer hamstrung by the urge to speak against the organization paying him handsomely, told it like it is.

"“I feel for u fans, you’ve stuck with me as we’ve shared some roller coaster years. I’ve always tried to be as professional as possible during the unprofessional, circus times there!” Stanton wrote in his farewell Instagram post.“Regardless of the Ups and downs, I’ve grown and learned a lot as a Person/Player. So for that I give thanks, I hope there are better days in Miami. The city and the people are too great not to be!”"

He clarified his statement further during the press conference.

The power-hitting righty coupled those statements with a huge smile throughout the entire press conference. He appeared thrilled to be a Yankee. So much, in fact, that he said he has no intention of opting out after the 2020 season.

That has ramifications for the Miami Marlins, who will have to pay the Yankees $30 million if he decides to stay in New York.

Stanton was eager to leave Miami

What came as the biggest surprise was how eager Stanton was to leave Miami. To this point, there was the notion that Stanton was happy in South Florida.

Stanton couldn’t get the Yankee pinstripes on fast enough. He’ll continue wearing no. 27 in New York, though there was some talk of him wearing the number no. 77.

Aaron Judge wears no. 99, and the idea would be to form a new-wave “Maris-Mantle” connection. Ultimately, he decided against it.

Now the Miami Marlins must navigate the rest of the Winter Meetings. They’re expected to be very active. The salary dump portion of the trades are over, with a few exceptions. Deals for Marcell Ozuna or Dan Straily would be expected to fetch a huge prospect return.

Next: It's time for the Miami Marlins to trust Gary Denbo

Christian Yelich is unlikely to be moved, as is J.T. Realmuto.