As the calendar turns the page from November to December, it appears that we are finally starting to get some some heat going when it comes to the Hot Stove this offseason. If you’re a Giants fan then things have definitely gotten interesting for you since two of the hottest rumors currently have San Francisco linked with the National League MVP from 2017 and the National League MVP from 2013.
One way or another, the Giants are trying to upgrade their outfield
Thursday’s Say Hey, Baseball discusses the rumors that have linked both Giancarlo Stanton and Andrew McCutchen to the San Francisco Giants. The stove is warming up!
Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images
The Giancarlo Stanton Sweepstakes took a major turn on Wednesday when SiriusXM radio host Craig Mish passed on the news that the Giants were apparently willing to take on Giancarlo Stanton’s entire contract in a potential trade. If the Giants are indeed willing to up the ante like that from a financial standpoint, then it makes sense that they’d become the favorites to land Stanton.
After all, the main reason why Miami’s new ownership is trying to move Stanton is so that they can cut payroll. I’d say that handing the $295 million that they still owe Stanton over to another team would count as a massive slash in payroll and Miami would probably be happy to get that out of the way — in addition to whatever combination of players and prospects they would receive in a potential trade with the Giants.
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If that doesn’t work out for San Francisco, then the Giants have already come up with a ‘Plan B’ when it comes to their outfield situation. According to MLB.com’s Jon Morosi, the secondary plan for San Francisco involves potentially acquiring Andrew McCutchen from the Pirates.
As Grant Brisbee noted in his take on the rumor over at McCovey Chronicles, this definitely makes sense for the Giants — as long as they put him in left field and keep him away from center field. If he stays in left field, then the Giants could reap the benefits of a rejuvenated McCutchen who is coming off of a bounce-back season following a drop-off in form back in 2016.
Between the rumors surrounding Giancarlo Stanton and the latest rumor concerning Andrew McCutchen, it appears that the Giants are willing to go to great lengths to put their awful 2017 campaign behind them and are going to start by trying to add a big name to their outfield.
- Scott Boras made it clear that he believes that Shohei Ohtani is being hosed and he made his point in a way that only Scott Boras could. Grant Brisbee is here to tell you that Boras is correct here.
- We have an acquisition! Yusmeiro Petit will be joining the Oakland Athletics on a two-year deal worth $10 million. That tiny bit of warmth you’re feeling is the Hot Stove heating up just a little bit.
- The stove could get even warmer if the rumors of a Jose Abreu trade to Boston come to fruitition. The Red Sox are in dire need of power hitting and Abreu could provide it.
- With that being said, Dave Cameron of FanGraphs made the argument that if the Red Sox do indeed decide to go after Abreu, then they should leave Jackie Bradley Jr. out of it.
- The Marlins aren’t the only team trying to slash payroll. Dayton Moore wants the Royals to get under $120 million by next season, and Royals Review tried to figure out how he could do it.
- Unless something crazy happens, Ronald Acuna should be roaming the outfield for the Braves by the time next season rolls around. Talking Chop wonders if the Braves are going to trade one of their outfielders to make room for the exciting prospect.
- Pinstripe Alley is going down a list of free agent targets and they figure that it wouldn’t hurt for the Yankees to try their luck at bringing in J.D. Martinez.
- Meanwhile in Japan, Barry Bonds visited the country in 2002 and spent some time hitting dingers off of a pitcher who was throwing from a trampoline. Yes, you read that correctly the first time.
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