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Coming into the 2013 season, anything that had to do with the Miami Marlins was completely negative; the only positive on the team remained outfielder Giancarlo Stanton. The Marlins had some power in the lineup to keep them afloat for the season. However, as it turned out, Stanton’s season was marred by injuries and the lack of personnel in the lineup. Stanton lacked Hanley Ramirez and Jose Reyes, therefore a 30 home run season was going to be hard to come by, and it has been.
With a week and a half left on the schedule, Stanton is not going to hit the 30 home run plateau unless he gets scorching hot. A poor season for Stanton allows the Marlins to gain some leverage in contract talks. He is going be a very hot commodity heading into the offseason, and the Marlins need to desperately keep him on the team. No matter how you look at it, he really is the face of the franchise and provides a good one-two punch with fellow upcoming superstar Jose Fernandez.
There are going to be a number of big market teams that are going to want to trade for Stanton. It is for the sake of the Marlins’ franchise that they keep him. After the big blowout trade last season, the Marlins’ front office vowed to keep him, although Stanton was irked by the moves. He is deserving of a huge contract extension and deserves to be a Miami Marlin for the rest of his career.
Ryan Gaydos is a MLB columnist for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter, “like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
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