|
I don't know - 35% of their yearly salaries were in Dee Gordon and Stanton. Is that really a great move for a team? Gordon had suspension and injury issues while Stanton is coming off his best year and probably will regress a bit (never hit over 37 HR in his career before 2017). I don't think it's a terrible idea to move those contracts to get some flexibility for the future. This team isn't winning anything in the next 2-3 years - so why pay two guys inching closer to 30 elite money for their position? The one who is a little more questionable is Ozuna as he is still under control for between 10 and 16 mil via arb for two seasons. But, maybe they were scared he would walk and like Alcantara and Sierra as prospects. Either way, I can see the logic.
This isn't unlike what Houston did when it sold off Roy Oswalt, Hunter Pence, Michael Bourn, Brett Myers, Carlos Lee and JA Happ over a couple seasons to reset. They key will be how Miami drafts and selects prospects for these trades. Winning 70-75 games with Stanton and some other vets isn't the best way to rebuild.
Finally, the reason they couldn't get much return for Stanton was because of the no-trade and the backloaded contract. Stanton would only go to the Astros, Cubs, Dodgers and Yankees. Had he agreed to go to St. Louis or San Fran, they could have gotten a higher return. Even the Dodgers were offering more prospects, but they didn't want to take back as much of the contract - so the Yankees ended up as the only real suitor.
|