ST. LOUIS (KMOX) – The 2017 NL MVP has sent his Christmas List not to the north pole, but to the Miami Marlins front office. Jon Morosi of MLB.com reports, the Los Angeles Dodgers are at the top, but their has been no confirmation of the St. Louis Cardinals or any other team also on the list.
The Dodgers play just 15 miles away from Stanton’s former high school, his Twitter handle “@Giancarlo818” is a shoutout to his hometown’s area code and now he has been rumored to want to go to Los Angeles more than any other team next season.
(Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
But Cardinals fans are still holding their breath, because the Dodgers might think twice before picking up Stanton’s $25 million salary next year, and the final nine years of his 13-year contract. The Dodgers will already have the highest payroll in the majors ($179,701,188 – SpotTrac.com)
If the Dodgers exceed the $197 million luxury tax threshold next year, the team will pay a 50 percent tax on all overages.
Morosi and ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick both say the Cardinals and San Francisco Giants are the “most mentioned” teams when it comes to a deal with Miami for the right fielder.
Related story: Who The Cardinals, Giants Have Reportedly Offered For Giancarlo Stanton
Crasnick also says the Stanton sweepstakes could be over within the next couple weeks, before the MLB Winter Meetings begin on December 10, in Orlando.
KMOX’s Tom Ackerman talked about the MLB story lines on Tuesday morning’s TIAM, agreeing with Crasnick that a trade may come before the meetings.
“Once you get into the winter meetings everything just goes haywire and teams are looking for new players,” Ackerman says.
The Cardinals might already be looking elsewhere, for pitching. And two possible gets for St. Louis could come from the Tampa Bay Rays. Ackerman brought up the report by Tampa Bay Times writer, Marc Topkin, who believes closer Alex Colome and starter Jake Odorizzi are going to be traded.
Reports say the Cardinals have been in talks with Tampa Bay for Colome.
Odorizzi, 27, is a St. Louis-area native (Highland, Ill.) and went 10-8 with a 4.14 ERA over 28 starts in 2017. Colome, 28, led the AL with 47 saves and, like Odorizzi, is currently under contract for several more seasons.
A deal for the pitchers is likely to happen before this Friday, because that is the contract tender deadline, when teams have to commit to signing their arbitration-eligibles. Topkin reports, 12 players Rays players are projected to make more than $40 million, and he believes the Rays will try to move a couple of those players before making tougher decisions on letting them walk.
Read more of Topkin’s report, here.
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