Reports: Stanton Wants Trade To Dodgers, Interest From Red Sox 'Tepid'
BOSTON (CBS) -- The chances of Giancarlo Stanton ending up in a Red Sox uniform appear to be getting lower.
A pair of reports in recent days suggest that the Marlins slugger is more interested in joining the reigning National League Champion Dodgers than any other team - and that the Red Sox themselves may not be particularly interested in the first place. The Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo wrote in his Sunday notes that the Red Sox' interest in Stanton is "tepid" for the time being, but acknowledged that things could change with Dave Dombrowski.
On Monday, the MLB Network's Jon Morosi tweeted that Stanton's reps have given the Marlins a list of teams to which he would accept a trade and that he hasn't formally rejected any proposals. He added that the Dodgers would be the right fielder's "first choice" in any potential deal.
Stanton, who hit 59 home runs last season en route to winning the NL MVP award, is due about $290 million over the remaining 10 years of his current deal, with a chance to opt out after 2020. The Red Sox would likely have to take on the entire contract in order to keep their best prospects from going to the Marlins in a trade.
He would also have to waive his no-trade clause to join Boston, and there's been no indication that he would be interested in doing that.
The NL MVP is exactly what the Red Sox need on offense right now and the team has said publicly that there will be no financial restrictions regarding the luxury tax this offseason. So in that vein, it's hard to gauge exactly why their interest would only be "tepid" at this point.
