The St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants have backed out on trying to get the National League's (NL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) of 2017 Giancarlo Stanton on their teams.
The Cardinals announced in a press release that Stanton will not waive his no-trade clause to become a part of the team. Thus, they will be looking in other directions to improve their lineup for 2018.
Sometime later, the Giants also expressed that they will stop pursuing the slugging right fielder to be a member of their lineup.
"Our agreement with the Marlins to acquire Giancarlo Stanton subject to his waiving of the no-trade clause will not move forward and it is our understanding that the Marlins and Stanton are exploring other options," they said in an announcement.
Stanton was reportedly unwilling to accept the deals offered to him by both clubs as they tried to work around the player's demands. Their trade packages included absorbing most of the $295 million owed to him over the next 10 seasons.
However, it seems like Stanton will not budge from his initial deal with the Marlins and will entertain teams that are willing to match his price.
Therefore, there are four remaining teams that are in the running to get this services — the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros.
The Yankees and Dodgers are reportedly having a difficult time trying to get under the luxury tax to reset their penalties in 2018. Years of going over the threshold have resulted in stiff penalties which they are now trying to avoid.
The Cubs are a possible team that Stanton could move to but they were also over the tax in 2017 and have a number of positions to fill before 2018. The Astros are the last choice but won a World Series without him. Stay tuned for more reports.
