THE NEW YORK Yankeers will sign home run king Giancarlo Stanton from the Miami Marlins in a blockbuster deal, according to reports in the US media on Saturday.
USA Today was among the outlets reporting that the teams had agreed terms for a deal, which the 28-year-old Marlins slugger must approve under the no-trade clause in his contract.
The newspaper, citing an unnamed source, said the Yankees were one of four teams the reigning National League MVP was willing to be traded to.
Stanton’s current contract is said to be the largest in professional sports worldwide and worth $295 million over its 10 remaining years.
A day earlier, the St Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants both said they had agreed to terms with the Marlins but Stanton declined to waive his no-trade clause and they were out of the running.
The Cardinals and Giants had both had Stanton in their sights from the time that the new Marlins ownership group, led by former Yankees great Derek Jeter, made it known they wanted to trade Stanton in order to cut their payroll.
Miami are set to receive Yankees infielder Starlin Castro and minor league prospects in the deal.
Stanton led the major leagues in home runs this season with 59, in runs-batted-in (132), extra-base hits (91) and slugging percentage (.631). He became just the sixth player to win an MVP award while playing for a losing team.
In eight seasons with the Marlins he is a .268 hitter with 267 home runs and 672 RBIs.
In New York he’ll join a lineup that already includes American League Rookie of the Year Aaron Judge, who blasted 52 home runs in the regular season to break Mark McGwire’s rookie record of 49 homers.
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