Rich Get Richer as Yankees Acquire Giancarlo Stanton

The Yankees fooled us all. Nobody expected the Yankees to be in play for Giancarlo Stanton, the reigning National League MVP, who lead all of Major League Baseball in home runs with 59. But during the weekend the Yankees did acquire Stanton, not because they needed him, but rather because they could do it.

 The Yankees had spent a better part of the last couple of seasons convincing us all that they were done with long term contracts that pay out huge amounts of money to star athletes. We thought lessons were learned after the monstrous contracts that were handed down over the years to guys like Jason Giambi, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixiera and CC Sabathia. We though the Yankees were going to turn back the clock to the 1990s by winning a championship with a young corps of home grown talent.

 After the dust settled Monday afternoon with Stanton's press conference, it is clear the Yankees are still going to rely on their young talent to take them all the way. But, they will try to win it all with a $265 million man standing in left field this year in the Bronx. And if Stanton decides not to opt out of that contract (a la Alex Rodriguez) by the year 2020, then there is a good chance we will see Stanton here in New York until the year 2028.

The reason the Yankees made this move is because they could. A combination of brilliant and shrewd maneuvering of the salary cap by Brian Cashman made this deal possible. Stanton was due $295 million over 10 years from the Marlins. Fish owner Derek Jeter needed to get Stanton off the team if he had any plans of freeing up cap space to rebuild the team in South Beach. He reached out to the Giants and Cardinals, and had deals with both, but Stanton, thanks to the ridiculous power of the no-trade clause, vetoed both trades putting Jeter in a position where he had no options.

Stanton wanted the Yankees, the Dodgers, Cubs or Astros. Only the Yankees had the ability to move pieces to make it happen.  The Yankees get rid of Starlin Castro's $21 million contract in the deal, which the Marlins absorb, and Miami will also absorb $30 million of Stanton's contract, lowering his annual salary to $22 million. They are also shedding the contracts of Sabathia, A-Rod, as well as Matt Holliday and Michael Pineda this off-season as well, creating more flexibility. Of the players they have under contract, they account for only $120 million, and that includes Stanton's deal. The others are either in arbitration years, or under rookie contracts, i.e. Aaron Judge. As a result the Yankee payroll right now is around $177 million. Don't believe me? Here are the numbers.

The problem the Yankees face is a logistical one. For starters they have eight players who are arbitration eligible this season, including Didi Gregorious, who is due to make $9 million and Sonny Gray who is due to make $6.6 million. If Gregorious continues to play well the Yankees won't want him to walk away, and they'll eventually sign him to a deal.

The same is going to be said one day for Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez and Greg Bird. All three players the Yankees have under their control for the next three seasons until arbitration in 2020. At that point, if Stanton doesn't opt out of his deal, things will get really interesting. Eventually a player like Judge is going to want to get paid. After a rookie campaign that produced 52 home runs, the expectations will be that Judge will repeat that feat next season, and if he does a lot of people will want the Yankees to pay him. How the Yankees manage their budgets with Stanton's $265 million deal in the fold and the prospect of having to eventually pay the kids is going to be a drama for years to come.

What the Yankees will have to do, and they are trying to do it already, is clear up cap room.  There are already stories that they are looking to trade Jacoby Ellsbury and his $68 million contract. Ellsbury is due to make $21 million this season, and the Yankees don't want to pay that much for a guy who was relegated to the bench last year. Brett Gardner is another player the Yankees could package in a deal if they wanted to.

Bottom line is the Yankees will be cutting back on paying the aging players that still control roster spots in order to free up money to eventually pay the kids, at least one would think -- unless the Yankees go bananas in the 2019 free agent class which is supposed to be a doozy of a group.

Team Chemistry: The 2017 Yankees had great team chemistry last year. Bringing in Stanton changes the complexion of this team dramatically. Former manager Joe Girardi did a great job when it came to managing all the high octane personalities that existed in the Yankees clubhouse over the years. If he was still here, there would be little discussion about the clubhouse dynamic, because Girardi would find a way. Nobody knows how Aaron Boone is going to managing this team. Nobody knows how he'll deal with superstars, especially two superstar sluggers who play the same position.

Guaranteed winner? Nothing is ever guaranteed. The Yankees should have known that themselves after watching the club win only one World Series in all the years Alex Rodriguez was in town. Those were some pretty wild seasons in the Bronx, and not all of them ended well. The Yankees need to hope that Stanton is the real deal in the playoffs and doesn't choke up on the bat, like A-Rod, or he'll never hear the end of it.

Good for baseball? A trade like this with a MVP player going to a team loaded with MVP talent all over the field is not exactly balancing the playing field in baseball. While the trade is great for the Yankees both financially and in offensive production, it further proves how flawed no-trade clauses are in baseball. Players can hold an entire organization hostage until they get what they desire. That is what happened here with Stanton. He should be a San Francisco Giant or St. Louis Cardinal right now, but instead with the no-trade clause, Stanton killed both deals to get what he wanted to play on the grandest stage in pro sports. While the Players Union will never agree to suspending the no-trade clause and/or player opt-outs, it would benefit franchises more if they had the power over the player. So in a phrase, no, this was not a good day for baseball.