You’ve probably heard by now about the insane deal in the works between the Miami Marlins and the Toronto Blue Jays that would send most of the Marlins’ roster to Toronto for Yunel Escobar and a gift card to Target or something.  (Seriously, it kept changing and I stopped checking on it).  You know who is left in Miami?  Giancarlo Stanton, Logan Morrison, and apparently mascot Billy the Marlin (although maybe they plan to send him to Toronto as well).  Do you know what I thought immediately crossed my mind when I first heard about this trade?  “Wait, Stanton is still there?  NOT FOR LONG!  Could he please come to Cleveland?”

Look, I know that exact thought probably went through the minds of fans of 28 different MLB teams.  And I know that it is highly unlikely that the Indians would end up being the team to pry Stanton loose.  But isn’t it something to dream about?  If you close your eyes really tight, it’s almost like you can picture him wearing an Indians uniform, romping around the outfield of Progressive Field.  It’s not like the Blue Jays even had to give up a ton in this deal and it’s obvious that Stanton is definitely NOT happy about this situation:

That Tweet is from Tuesday evening when Stanton first heard that half of his teammates were being shipped off to a foreign nation.  They claim they plan to hold onto him (although Morrison may be up for grabs) but I find it hard to trust anything they say at this point.  My question – is this like a going out of business sale?  Can we just offer them some spare parts, hope they don’t take the time to actually count the change, and run off with Stanton while they’re distracted?   Because I’m not sure if we really need Matt LaPorta anymore, and heck, we could even throw in Ezequiel Carrera.  They’re both cheap, that seems to be what they’re going for.  And speaking of cheap, their budget was at about $95 million prior to the 2012 season.  After today’s fire sale, coupled with the one from this summer, their budget is down to $16 million.  I like to complain about the Dolans, but at least the Indians’ budget is more than Hanley Ramirez’s annual salary (he was paid $15 million in 2012).  In fact, maybe this will start giving the Dolans ideas.  It’s almost like the Marlins are channeling the ghost of Frank “Trader” Lane, infamous for trading Rocky Colavito (and numerous others) during his tenure in Cleveland from 1957-1961.

I’ve never cared for Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, starting back when he swindled the fans of Montreal and was involved with the team’s demise and departure from the city.  He got the city of Miami to pay for his ridiculous new stadium, even though they’re in a budget deficit and couldn’t afford additional voting machines for last week’s election.  It’s absolutely insane – it’s like he’s a con man, but everyone realizes he’s pulling this huge con.  Yet he keeps getting chances to swindle people, over and over again.  I mean, would you want to go give your investments to Bernie Madoff at this point?  If he were Jeffrey Loria, he’d already be running a new, successful ponzi scheme from prison.

And just think – the Marlins have won two World Series titles since their founding in 1993, while the Indians are entering year 65 of their title-less drought.  The least they could do to make things even in the universe is to give us Giancarlo Stanton.  Plus they just claimed Scott Maine yesterday, so in a roundabout way, it’s almost like the Indians just straight-up gave him to them!

 

6 Comments

  • Mark says:

    I still remember the sick feeling that I got when a Marlins fan held up a sign during the 1997 World Series that said: “IT’S OUR TURN!” Their turn? In their fifth year of existence? Then they sell off that whole team and buy another world series in 2003. Those series wins and this trade make it hard to follow baseball let alone the Tribe. At least the AL East should be real interesting next year.

  • Chris Burnham says:

    I want LoMo. Somebody’s gotta be the comic relief for a while.

  • Cadfael says:

    I can’t lie, my second thought (after: this can’t possibly be the real trade) was come on Tribe, but in an offer for Stanton!

  • Steve Alex says:

    Logan Morrison is a realistic possibility. He didn’t have a great year and is only one more year from arbitration. The Indians were interested in him last year, but Miami didn’t want to give him up. That appears to have changed. He still has upside and four years of team control.

  • Cadfael says:

    I would be ecstatic if we could get LoMo. Guy has pop, personality, and an affordable contract. These are all things we need.

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