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By a show of hands, who thinks that Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins is the best player no one has ever heard of? Is it possible that he is in the conversation for the best player in the National League? Well, Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers may have a few words to say about it, but Stanton is certainly one of baseball’s shining stars. At age 23, he will only get better.
In his first three seasons in the majors, Stanton has averaged 31 HRs (last season was his best year with 37 round trippers). Considering he is getting better by the year, one can only expect his numbers to get even stronger in 2013. While the Marlins traded away essentially their entire roster to the Toronto Blue Jays, Stanton will be the main focus in South Florida.
There’s a lot of bad blood between the fans and team after the fire sale mentioned above. With the new Marlins Stadium in downtown Miami, the organization promised to put a strong team on the field, and did try last season through a flurry of free agent signings. They also brought Ozzie Guillen into town to manage the squad. Well it turned out that Guillen was a disaster, and the team was horrible. It led to an empty ballpark and the Marlins selling off pieces.
Based on his contract situation, Stanton is still a huge bargain and will be the centerpiece of this franchise. The Marlins claim they’re going to build a team around this superstar, but they’ve made promises before. Regardless of what the future hold, Stanton will be the only reason to watch the Marlins in 2013.
