The Yankees have been down this road before and it didn't end well.
The New York Yankees have a deal in place to acquire Giancarlo Stanton from the Marlins. This is surely a nightmare for almost all Red Sox fans.
The combination of Stanton, who led the majors with 59 home runs last season, and Aaron Judge, who was second with 52 homers, creates the modern day equivalent of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig or Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, at the least.
The Yankees' offense will be a juggernaut. Even without Stanton, the 2017 Yankees were first in the majors in homers (241) and second in runs (858).
The deal is contingent on Stanton’s willingness to waive his no-trade clause, which he reportedly will for the Yankees, Dodgers, Astros and Cubs.
Take solace Red Sox fans; there is plenty of reason for concern about Stanton's massive contract, which has 10 years and $295 million remaining.
Yes, Stanton is elite offensive player... when healthy. The problem is that he is too often unhealthy/injured.
Over his first seven seasons (2010-16), Stanton averaged just 117 games. Last season he finally stayed healthy and played a career-high 159 games. In fact, through eight seasons, Stanton has played in at least 150 games just twice.
This is why I wasn't enthusiastic about the prospect of the Red Sox dealing for him.
Stanton is entering his age 28 season, meaning he is still in his prime and that his contract will run through his age 38 season, assuming he doesn't opt out after the 2020 season.
Players are typically at their best and healthiest in their 20s. Most players don't get better and healthier in their 30s, and that is what the Yankees are banking on.
There are eerie similarities between Stanton now and Alex Rodriguez in 2003, when New York obtained him in an offseason trade. A-Rod was also entering his age-28 season, was also the reigning MVP, was also playing for a losing team, also had an opt-out clause three years away and also had the biggest contract in the sport's history.
Yes, the Yankees won the World Series with A-Rod in 2009, but his last eight years in the Bronx were a huge letdown, at the least, and his contract proved to be a disaster for the Yankees, which they surely regret.
In 2007, Rodriguez opted out of his 10-year, $250 million contract, only to re-sign a new 10-year, $275 million deal with New York. That contract proved to be an albatross for the Yankees. They paid him to simply go away in 2017, the pact's final year.
Even excluding his 2014 suspension, A-Rod was injured and in serious decline for most of that 10-year contract. From 2008-16, excluding his 2014 suspension, A-Rod averaged just 110 games per year.
In other words, out of a possible 1,458 games over that nine-year span, A-Rod played in just 880 games, and that was on top of the fact that he didn't play a single game in the 2014 and 2017 seasons.
It was a nightmare for the Yankees and it should surprise no one if that same fate repeats itself for New York, this time with Stanton.
If Stanton is injured again or decides not to opt-out for any reason, the Yankees are on the hook for the duration of the pact -- through the 2027 season -- since Stanton has full no-trade rights built into his deal.
As history shows, massive, long term contracts are only good for the players who sign them. The teams who agree to these deals are usually left holding the bag and with many regrets.
Alex Rodriguez, Prince Fielder, Carl Crawford, Jose Reyes, Josh Hamilton, Matt Kemp, Ryan Howard, Albert Pujols, for example, all vastly underperformed their expensive, long term contracts and the teams that signed them would surely love a do-over.
Boston has had its share of bad, long term pacts in recent years, including those of Hanley Ramirez, Pablo Sandoval and Rusney Castillo.
Just remember that, Red Sox fans, as you weep into your Wheaties this morning at the thought of Giancarlo Stanton in pinstripes.
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