How Giancarlo Stanton stared down the threatening Marlins
Giancarlo Stanton could not have gotten out of Miami soon...
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Shortly before being introduced as a Yankee on Monday at the Winter Meetings, Giancarlo Stanton buried the executives of the Marlins, who are now run by Derek Jeter.
In an Instagram post, Stanton used scathing terms to describe what has gone on with his former club.
“I appreciate All my teammates & coaching Staff that battled day in and day out
“I feel for u fans, you’ve stuck with me as we’ve shared some roller coaster years.
“I’ve always tried to be as professional as possible during the unprofessional, circus times there!” Stanton wrote.
During the introductory press conference, Stanton was asked about the “unprofessional, circus” comment.
“You guys in the media, you have seen what has gone on down there. What I mainly meant, no structure, no stamp about how things are going to be run,’’ Stanton said. “It’s a different direction every spring training down there, something new every spring. A different manager every middle of the season.’’
Stanton and Jeter did meet, but it was instantly clear Jeter’s vision of the Marlins differed from Stanton’s.
“We spoke. We spoke about the direction of the team,’’ Stanton said. “I wanted us to go forward and advance the pitching staff. I thought our lineup was legit and with our pitchers we needed to add rather than subtract. The way they wanted to go was to subtract, so I let them know that I didn’t want to be part of another rebuild, another losing season.’’
The Marlins threatened Stanton by telling him if he didn’t accept a trade to the Cardinals or the Giants, he would remain in Miami for the rest of his career.
“You can’t say that and expect me to jump at what’s there, if that’s not the right situation for me. So it doesn’t matter what the dynamic was,’’ Stanton said. “You’re not going to force me to do anything, regardless of what the situation is.
“It was said, so it was definitely a thought I had to be ready to deal with, but I’m not going to be forced to do that.’’
Stanton took exception to the Marlins’ threat.
“Yeah, after being a part of the organization for so long and everything I’ve done there, to have that, yeah,’’ he said.