Giancarlo Stanton's impressive numbers don't add up for Yankees
Giancarlo Stanton of the Yankees grounds out to end the first inning against the Tigers at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 6. Credit: Jim McIsaac
With Giancarlo Stanton, the conversation is always about the numbers. Exit velocity. Distance. Nobody hits a baseball harder or farther.
“He’s as unique as I’ve ever seen, honestly,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I don’t know if there’s anything I’ve seen like G.”
And therein lies the problem. Stanton flexes such freakish power that any objective evaluation of his ability winds up as collateral damage from the explosions. Sometimes, that goes for opposing players, too.
During Wednesday night’s 4-3 victory over the Tigers, Stanton knocked out Detroit starter Matt Manning by drilling a 119.5-mph laser off his right heel in the first inning, the second-highest exit velo in the majors this season, behind only Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna Jr. (121.2).
Afterward, X-rays revealed that Manning had suffered a fractured foot, ending his season. The previous night, Stanton picked a safer spot, using the leftfield bleachers for target practice — beyond the visitors bullpen — and who doesn’t love fireworks? After another season of being tormented by the Bronx boo-birds, Stanton earned a rare curtain call Tuesday with that historic sixth-inning swing, leaping up the dugout steps to tip his helmet.
Stanton called that the “cherry on top” of his career milestone, and at age 33, reaching 500 is definitely on his radar. But that’s the tease with Stanton. Despite being the fourth-fastest slugger to hit No. 400 — trailing only Babe Ruth, Alex Rodriguez and Mark McGwire — his future performance keeps getting more difficult to predict. And for the Yankees, too fragile to rely on.
Which brings us back to more numbers. Stanton played 158 games in 2018, his debut season with the Yankees, his best across nearly every offensive category (38 HRs, 100 RBIs, .852 OPS) But since then, he’s appeared in just 54.9% of the team’s total games, not counting the playoffs, trending downward along the way.
To date, it’s come at a cost of $167 million for the Yankees, and the price tag only goes up from here as Stanton climbs through his mid-thirties. That’s an ominous sign as Stanton struggles through another season derailed by injuries, but he’s still hit 21 homers in 86 games, and remains another hot streak away from getting to 30 by the Oct. 1 finish line.
As Stanton showed again Tuesday night, all it takes is one swing with him. To wreck a game with a spectacular tie-breaking homer, or win back a Bronx crowd that’s been conditioned to boo him on sight. If Stanton is standing upright, and capable of walking to the batter’s box, he can do damage. But another prolonged absence for Stanton this season is a big reason why the Yankees plunged from contention, which threw some shade on Tuesday’s celebration.
“It’s definitely a cool little wake-up call,” Stanton said. “But it doesn’t change much in terms of how the year’s gone. We do have about a month left, so that’s all I could really focus on or pay attention to. There’s still a big hill ahead of us.”
The same could be said for Stanton’s relationship with the Yankees. They owe him another $108 million through 2027 (counting the $20M the Marlins are on the hook for) and it’s not like players improve with age anymore in the PED-testing era. And for a sobering example of just how terribly a contract can deteriorate over time, check out Miguel Cabrera, who’s in town with the Tigers this week.
Cabrera is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but his production careened off a cliff during the final seven years of his 10-year, $292 million contract. Since his last All-Star season in 2016, when Cabrera finished ninth in the AL MVP voting at age 33, he’s averaged nine homers and 46 RBIs with an OPS-plus of 94, all coming at a cost of $212 million for the Tigers during that stretch.
Stanton turns 34 this November, which is worrisome number, but it’s tough not to visualize him on the 2024 Yankees. Not only does Stanton have a full no-trade clause, with his price tag, and lengthy medical history, teams aren’t lining up to deal for him. And considering the Yankees would have to pick up a large chunk of his salary just to move Stanton — probably with a marginal return — they can make a case for holding on to him, for moments like Tuesday night. Plus, he’s popular in the clubhouse, too.
“A true professional in how he goes about his business,” Gerrit Cole said. “And what he brings to the park every single day.”
Stanton just doesn’t do it nearly enough. He’s routinely among the MLB leaders in exit velocity and distance, but Stanton has never approached the output of his 2017 MVP season, when he led the planet with 59 homers and 132 RBIs, and had an NL-best 169 OPS-plus while playing 159 games. The Yankees got a glimpse of that Stanton during his debut year in the Bronx, but now they’re limited to occasional snapshots, jolting reminders of what could have been.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
