Cubs Live
News broke this morning that reigning NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton was going to be traded to the New York Yankees and the majority of the sports world was outraged. Most of the takes I saw this morning (mostly from Boston fans) included accusations of collusion with Derek Jeter, CEO and part owner of the Marlins, helping his old team out one more time. I’m not ready to go that far and say this was all a set up to make the rest of America angry, but it does seem terrible for the other 29 teams in baseball. Pairing Aaron Judge (52 home runs) with Stanton (59 home runs) is something I’ve unsuccessfully tried to obtain in video games. If the 27 titles weren’t enough already, this gives baseball fans everywhere another reason to hate the Yankees as “the rich get richer” is truer now than ever. As bad as this looks on the outside, Cubs fans everywhere should be happy with this result.
Ever since the Marlins announced they were shopping Stanton this offseason, it was assumed that he was going to the Dodgers, Giants or Cardinals. I was mentally prepared for Stanton to hit 60 tanks off the arch every year or for him to be paired with Cody Bellinger and Corey Seager in Los Angeles. If he went with St. Louis, the NL Central automatically becomes much more competitive and if he joins the Dodgers, they become the Golden State Warriors of baseball. With Stanton playing in the American league, this won’t be a problem for the Cubs until the World Series. Stanton playing in the American League would have been nice in any regard, but him playing for the Yankees is perfect for the Cubs when it comes to free agency for next year. Following the 2018 season, Bryce Harper is expected to test the waters of free agency and bring in a historic amount of money with his new contract. Early on, it was assumed that Harper would sign with the Yankees after 2018. With Stanton and Judge already patrolling the outfield corners while having Stanton’s contract on their hands, I don’t see any way that Harper will end up in The Bronx. It’s still no guarantee he’ll sign with the Cubs given the inevitable raises that the young core of the Cubs will receive, but I still like our chances for Kris Bryant’s best friend, who has a dog named Wrigley, to end up playing for the Cubs in the future. Am I selfish for being happy about this because it helps the Cubs chances at signing a superstar? Probably. Is creating a “super team” bad for the game of baseball? Maybe, but it would be the exact same situation if he ended up playing for the Dodgers. Watching the Yankees swoop in out of nowhere to trade for arguably the best hitter of this generation is an annoying flex, but it really isn’t hurting the Cubs. I’ll stress about this if/when the Cubs and Yankees meet in the World Series.
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Kyle MalzhanFounder who is an aspiring journalist who covers the Chicago Cubs daily. Archives
April 2020
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