Giancarlo Stanton brutally honest about Marlins during his Yankees introduction
On Monday, the New York Yankees introduced new acquisition and reigning NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton to the media in Orlando during baseball's Winter Meetings.
Predictably, Stanton faced a lot of questions about the Miami Marlins and Derek Jeter during his portion of the press conference. And, in the spirit of his Instagram post from earlier in the day, he let the Marlins have it.
Here are some of the fiercest cuts Stanton took at his old team:
Giancarlo Stanton said he told Derek Jeter he didn’t want to be part of a rebuild. “I wanted us to go forward and advance with the pitching staff. I thought our lineup was legit … we needed to add rather than subtract. The way they wanted to go was subtract.” — Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) December 11, 2017
Giancarlo Stanton said he gave his list of teams to the Marlins in advance, but the team went out and negotiated deals with the Giants and Cardinals anyway. While he was willing to listen to the pitches, he pretty much knew he didn't want to go to those clubs. — Jared Diamond (@jareddiamond) December 11, 2017
Giancarlo Stanton on the Marlins: “You guys in the media have seen how it goes down there. No structure. No direction.” — Andy McCullough (@McCulloughTimes) December 11, 2017
Stanton on his message to Marlins fans: "I would say to hang in there. They're going to go through some more tough years. ... Maybe watch from afar if you're going to watch." — Tim Healey (@timbhealey) December 11, 2017
To recap: Stanton said he submitted his list of teams before the Marlins ever hashed out a deal with the St. Louis Cardinals or San Francisco Giants. Nonetheless, he listened to those teams' presentations to get a feel for what other organizations are like, given his experience has been limited to playing for the Marlins -- an uneven experience due to their lack of consistent identity.
Stanton had talked with Jeter and pressed for the Marlins to push forward, adding pitching to go with their lineup. The Marlins didn't want to add, however, and will instead subtract -- a decision that Stanton feels will make for tough times in Miami. Stanton even went so far as to tell Marlins fans they might not want to attend games, given how brutal the product could become.
That's more than your standard press conference fare -- and it's just another reason why Stanton is likely to remain the talk around baseball.
Believe it or not, Stanton found time to talk about his new team, the Yankees, too:
Giancarlo Stanton on wanting to go to the Yankees: “Just watching them from afar, seeing their young dynamic group, the way they flow together on the field, the way they never give up never quit … there’s not much you could say of why you wouldn’t want to be there" — Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) December 11, 2017
Stanton: ‘NY was definitely at the top of the list. We were able to get a deal done.’ — Alex Speier (@alexspeier) December 11, 2017
Stanton: "Sometimes things just spiral out of place and you have to find a new home." — Tim Healey (@timbhealey) December 11, 2017
So, Stanton is none too pleased with the Marlins or their direction. But he seems fond of the Yankees and their young core.
That's about what you'd expect, but, again, it's something to see Stanton be so forthright about it all. Good for him.