Giancarlo Stanton Shouldn't Be On A MLB Roster And Has Four Years Left On His Contract

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Daniel Vogelbach has been Public Enemy No. 1 for Mets fans all season. Frank calls his "Daniel Vogelfat". He can't play in the field, can't hit against LHP and can't run on the basepaths. It hasn't been good. He has an WAR of 0.2 this season. As terrible as Vogelbach has been this season, he's been better than Giancarlo Stanton. At least Vogelbach will be gone in a couple of weeks.

I find it strange that more people aren't talking about the deterioration of Stanton happening in real time. If he was the Giancarlo Stanton that the Yankees thought they were getting, they might have made a run at the playoffs this year. The Yankees are only 6 games back of the wild card.

How bad as Stanton been? He's hitting .193/.279/.431 in 95 games. He's hitting .185 since the All-Star Break. He's at .116 in September. He keeps somehow getting worse. He has a -0.5 WAR this season. It's gotten to the point where can only hit home runs. I mean that's ALL he can do.

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I'm pretty amazed that Yankee fans haven't turned on him. We saw how they treated Joey Gallo. He could at least play defense and wasn't signed for FOUR MORE YEARS. I've asked Hubbs and Marty about this and they give him a pass because he has played well in the post-season for them. 

Editor's note: Wrong, I'd do anything possible to trade him this offseason

He has a career playoff Slugging Percentage of .635. How long can that past glory get you forgiveness for being one of the worst players in the major leagues? I think it's more that he gets a pass from Yankee fans because they know they are stuck with him.

Let's talk about this contract because it's fucking wild. He's owed $128 million dollars over the next four seasons. I'm assuming they will buy out his 2028 season. The (only) good news for the Yankees here is that the Marlins are on the hook for $30 million dollars of this deal. So the Yankees owe him $98 million dollars. This is for someone that wouldn't be on a MLB roster if he wasn't being paid an insane amount of money.

Scott Cunningham. Getty Images.

As a fan of baseball history, the downfall of Stanton has been pretty sad. He had 305 career home runs by the end of his age 28 season in 2018. He was on a clear path to be a first ballot Hall of Famer. He hit 59 home runs in 2017 and while he did have injury issues the first part of his career, he had just put together two healthy campaigns where he missed a total of 7 games in two seasons combined.

Then he just fell apart.

Giphy Images.

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The injuries are varied for sure: strained right biceps, strained knee ligament, strained left hamstring, ankle issues and Achilles issues. He's missed 311 games since 2019. What we are left with is a player who can't make contact, can't get on base, can't run and can't field. What does this player look like in 2027?

Greg Fiume. Getty Images.

The most recent example is Chris Davis on the Orioles. He fell off at a similar pace as Stanton:

2015: 47 HR, 117 RBI, .262/.361/.562 in 160 games

2016: 38 HR, 84 RBI, .221/.332/.459 in 157 games

2017: 26 HR, 61 RBI, .215/.309/.423 in 128 games

2018: 16 HR, 49 RBI, .168/.243/.296 in 128 games

2019: 12 HR, 36 RBI, .179/.276/.326 in 128 games

He then played in 16 games in 2020 where he hit .115 and that was that. Can Stanton make it for four more years if he's already closer to 2018 Chris Davis than even the 2017 version. In the past, maybe it wouldn't have mattered as much. George Steinbrenner would be shitting on Stanton and eventually cutting him in a fit of rage. But the payroll implications wouldn't really exist.

With his son Hal in charge, the Yankees are very conscious of the luxury tax. They are the rich old lady at the supermarket with a book full of coupons. They have more money than they could need…they just don't want to spend it.

Yankee fans haven't turned on Stanton yet but I think it's coming very soon. This is a broken roster filled with players past their prime. Stanton is the poster child of everything wrong with this team and I don't see it getting better anytime soon. 

Giancarlo Stanton was a player on a Hall of Fame trajectory. Now, he's someone who shouldn't be in the major leagues. If you think this is bad, wait until the Yankee fans figure it out.