The Miami Marlins' Giancarlo Stanton hits a single in the third inning against the Atlanta Braves at Marlins Park in Miami on Friday, Sept. 5, 2014. (Photo Courtesy of David Santiago/El Nuevo Herald/TNS)Miami Marlins' right fielder Giancarlo Stanton signed a mind-boggling contract Monday for $325 million over the course of 13 years.
Any way you slice it, that's a staggering amount of money. It's roughly $25 million per year. It's over $68,000 every single day. It is far and away the biggest contract handed out in the history of the major leagues.
The deal also comes with a complete no-trade clause and an opt-out after six years.
$68,449: Amount Giancarlo Stanton will be paid EACH DAY for 13 YEARS.
— darren rovell (@darrenrovell) November 17, 2014
Stanton has hitched his wagon to one of the most toxic franchises in all of sports and arguably MLB's worst owner, Jeff Loria.
Loria is a guy for whom players don't like to play. He does all the right things to make it look like he wants to win and then simply does an abrupt about-face without warning.
Just two years ago Loria looked like he was gearing up to build a championship team. He had a shiny new stadium funded largely by taxpayer money and was putting together a talented roster.
Miami shelled out big bucks for shortstop Jose Reyes and starting pitcher Mark Buehrle to go with ace Josh Johnson and a young corps of talent (headlined by Stanton, of course).
Just one year into the experiment, Loria pulled the plug with an abrupt November trade that jettisoned Reyes, Buehrle and Johnson to the Toronto Blue Jays for pennies on the dollar and prompted a tweet from Stanton proclaiming that he was "pissed off."
Alright, I'm pissed off!!! Plain & Simple
— Giancarlo Stanton (@Giancarlo818) November 13, 2012
There's no denying it: Stanton has gotten in bed with a snake — a snake that is fully prepared to lash out and bite without provocation or warning.
Don't get me wrong, $325 million is an absurd amount of money, and it would take an equally absurd amount of money to turn it down, but this contract could end up being one that Stanton regrets signing.
There are bright spots on the Marlins' roster who could one day form a competitive roster, but it is equally likely that Loria will tear the whole dang house down and tanks it, leaving Stanton to endure grueling losing seasons with no comfort but his admittedly massive piles of cash.
The general sense around baseball is that Stanton's deal, despite its value, is a bad one for him. Any number of cash-flush franchises would have been more than willing to open the checkbook for a talent like Stanton, and none of them are as wishy-washy when it comes to competitive drive as Miami is.
The danger here, of course, is that one of baseball's premier talents is wasted in a small market on a bad team that won't get better over the course of his career.
With poor attendance numbers, a subpar TV deal and a yearly payroll that is less than double what Stanton will now make per season, this franchise is rife with problems, the greatest of which is its owner.
Stanton could go down as one of the very best power hitters to ever play the game, but to achieve that, he will have to hope this deal with the devil doesn't come back to haunt him.
Reach the sports editor at icbeck@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @ICBeck21
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