Yankees Acquire Giancarlo Stanton
The Yankees struck gold Saturday morning as they reached an agreement with the Miami Marlins to acquire slugger Giancarlo Stanton. A team that was one game from the World Series just got considerably better; that is a frightening preposition for the rest of baseball. Here are my initial thoughts on the mega-deal.
1. The Yankees had to make a move. After striking out on the Shohei Otani sweepstakes, Brian Cashman could not just keep the status quo. Now did he have to go out and get the reigning NL MVP coming off of a 59-home run season? No, but he runs the Yankees. They bleed money. This move is a no-brainer and one that makes the Yankees the favorites in the American League.
2. The Yankees now might have the best power trio in the history of baseball. That is not hyperbole. Think about it. Sanchez, Judge, Stanton. That triumvirate combined for 144 dingers last season. That is more than the entire San Francisco Giants hit all of last year. Teams used to have the luxury of pitching around Sanchez to get to Judge, but now with Stanton looming that is no longer an option.
3. Who will play right field? Both Stanton and Judge have exclusively played right field over the course of their young careers. My guess would be that the Yankees allow Stanton to play right, move Judge to left, and Gardner to center. An alternative option is to allow either Judge or Stanton to DH while the other plays right. It will be interesting to see how the Yankees newly minted manager Aaron Boone elects to position his fortress of All-Stars.
