Giancarlo Stanton: possibly the most sought after trade this offseason. Many teams want him, but he might not want them.

Back in November of 2014, Stanton signed a monstrous contract: 13 years and an astonishing $325 million contract, which made him the highest paid player in sports. The thing that most fans may of forgotten, however, is that Stanton was offered a full no-trade clause. This, meaning Stanton can decline a trade that the Marlins agree on with any team. This has been the big point so far in his trade talks. The no trade clause wasn’t a very big deal immediately, as it seemed as if the Marlins had a big future, with rising stars coming up, like the late Jose Fernandez, Marcell Ozuna, Christian Yelich and Henderson Alvarez, However, the team fell upon some hard times with injuries, bad trades, failed prospects, and of course the tragic loss of Jose Fernandez. This has all added up to the ultimate rebuild, and the need to trade Stanton, where the no trade clause finally comes into importance.

The Giants and Cardinals have been the frontrunners so far, the Giants offering their top four prospects for Stanton, and the Cardinals offering a package starting with pitching prospect Sandy Alcantara. However, Stanton has said that, while he is fluid on the situation, he’d “rather not play” in San Francisco or St. Louis. Stanton has recently said that he would also agree to a trade to the Yankees, Cubs, Astros or the Dodgers.

With that, most think, and have thought, that Stanton wants to play for the Dodgers. Stanton grew up outside of LA, and was a Dodgers fan, plus, he lives around the stadium in Beverly Hills. Another piece that Stanton wants, is to play on a coast.

Though, Stanton would agree to a trade with these teams, there’s no indication that these teams have mutual interests. Some trades would be hard to make, like for the Dodgers, who owe 450 million dollars to players this year, and are already very close to the luxury tax threshold. The Yankees, Cubs, and Astros are also all very high in payroll, also don’t have an immediate place for him to play, unless one of their starting players were included in the trade for Stanton.

As for the Marlins situation, they are in the total rebuild. They want to cut payroll, and obviously, that starts with Stanton. Team president Derek Jeter has said that if he won’t cooperate and accept a trade, they’ll trade the other core players around him, until he accepts, because Stanton doesn’t want to be a part of another rebuild. The team has started to stick the their word, trading all star second baseman Dee Gordon to Seattle.

Through all of this, Stanton is a huge impact player, winning 2017 NL MVP and hitting 59 home runs, and playing very good defense, and, until a resolution is found, his rumors will be the talk of the offseason.