Yankees Marlins reportedly agree to Giancarlo Stanton trade

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After rejecting trades to San Francisco and St. Louis, reigning NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton is reportedly heading to New York.

The Yankees and Marlins have reportedly agreed to a trade that will send Stanton to New York, according to Jon Heyman of Fanrag Sports. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and Joel Sherman of the New York Post have also confirmed the deal. The Marlins are expected to receive Starlin Castro and prospects from the Yankees while kicking in some money that covers a small portion of Stanton's contract. Neither club has confirmed the deal.

@Joel Sherman
Castro, Devers, Guzman for Stanton and $30M pending physical. #Yankees doing thorough work up so might not be finalized until tomorrow or Monday

he Marlins have been looking to move Stanton, fresh off his 59 home run season, as a way to cut costs. The new ownership group fronted by Derek Jeter wants to get the team's debt under control and one of the easiest ways to do that is by trading the team's most expensive player. Once Stanton rejected the Giants and Cardinals, Miami lost leverage, and the Yankees pounced even though they already have a pretty great power-hitting right fielder in Aaron Judge.

For weeks the Yankee have made it clear they want to get under the $197 million luxury tax threshold in 2018, which would reset their tax rate -- they are currently taxed at the maximum 50 percent -- and save the club millions. That is still doable even while taking on Stanton's contract. The Yankees had about $32 million in payroll space available before the trade, plus the inclusion of Castro in the trade will offset some of Stanton's salary. It's possible the Marlins will eat some money as well.

The Marlins traded Dee Gordon to the Mariners in another cost-cutting move earlier this week and it's likely similar moves will follow. Martin Prado, Brad Ziegler, Junichi Tazawa, and Marcell Ozuna have been mentioned as trade candidates, and it stands to reason the Marlins would listen to offers for Christian Yelich as well.