Better late than never, right? In a move that stunned the baseball community (weeks ago), Giancarlo Stanton was traded to the New York Yankees for Starlin Castro and two prospects. This was the first of many trades by Derek Jeter and the Miami Marlins organization to cut payroll massively, which to the dismay of the fanbase has already been completed. But, what happens now? Not just to the Yankees but with the Marlins? These two teams are going in opposite directions, the Yankees are back to the mindset of “win now” after a months-long rebuild while the Marlins are bracing for the cellar, starting a massive rebuild of the franchise. Let’s elaborate, shall we?
Miami Marlins:
The Marlins are going to suck, there’ s no sugar coating that. At this point most of the fanbase has realized that. It has brought fans of this organization to tears, seeing a team they believed could compete with better pitching since the offense was so potent. Giancarlo Stanton is arguably the best Marlin in history! He has the highest WAR of any Marlin ever, which even for the Marlins is not a easy task to do. Trading away your franchise player will never sit will in Miami. Derek Jeter and the Marlins ownership group stress time, saying that there is a light at the end of the tunnel but the tunnel seems very long for the Marlins. It is a franchise that has been in the gutter pretty much every single year besides 1997 and 2003, there was never a true “Marlins Dynasty”. Giancarlo Stanton was the only franchise player they truly had since after their World Series wins, the team was completely redone.The team has not had a winning season since 2009, and according to Derek Jeter it won’t anytime soon. Merry Christmas, Miami!
New York Yankees:
Remember when the Yankees were supposed to be rebuilding? They have improved tremendously in the past month alone, turning a team that was 1 win away from their first World Series berth since 2009 into a team with immense power. The Yankees have once again embraced their trademark “throw money at everything” and “win now” mindset but even then there is a slight twist. Even though the Yankees have most of Giancarlo Stanton’s monster contract and still have some more cash to spend, they still have prospects in their farm system. Many on the verge of becoming Major Leaguers. The team that everyone hated in the late 90’s and early 00’s is back, to the cheers of Yankees faithful and the jeers of everyone else. The major difference is, there isn’t just going to be major offseason additions. Gleyber Torres, Chance Adams, Estavan Florial and many more players are developing. The Yankees farm system is so good many of their mid-tier prospects are top prospects in other teams farm systems. The Yankees have the power and with their short right field porch, the combo of Judge, Stanton and Sanchez alone could make the Yankees the favorites in the AL East for a long time but there is more coming. The cute unexpected Yankees of 2017 are dead, now the team everyone loves to hate is back.
The road is long for the Marlins, but eventually they hope to have a team that can compete for years. The rebuild will definetly take longer than the Yankees but the best comparison can be to the Houston Astros who had 3 abysmal seasons but they eventually won the World Series and brought baseball back to Houston. Only time will tell if Derek Jeter’s plan work out and the upcoming Spring is going to showcase a reloaded Yankees, hungry for their 28th World Series title. Less than 100 days remain, spring is just around the corner everyone.
Featured Photo: Kim Klement/USA Today Sports
