MLB Roundup 12/8: Giancarlo Stanton narrows his list

Giancarlo Stanton wants to play for the Dodgers or the Yankees

According to a new report from Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic and backed up by Craig Mish, Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton is sticking hard to his guns that he wants to play for the teams he wants to play for. Per the report, that list does not include the Giants or the Cardinals at this moment, the two teams who have the framework of deals worked out with Miami. Instead, he remains steadfast on the Dodgers and reportedly would accept a trade to the Yankees, Cubs and Astros as well. The Dodgers and Yankees are both trying to get back under the luxury tax if at all possible, and obviously adding Stanton would not help that. So, the Marlins are in a spot where they likely will have to eat some money off the contract if they want to deal Stanton at all. The pro-player baseball fan in me is psyched to see Stanton leverage his no-trade clause like this and love seeing the Marlins ownership squirm. The Red Sox fan in me is freaking out about a Bronx lineup that includes both Stanton and Judge. Please get more aggressive in this, Dodgers. It’s also worth mentioning that the Giants and Cardinals could re-emerge as candidates if the other teams remain uninterested in the slugger.

Marlins trade Dee Gordon to Seattle

Our biggest trade of the offseason so far went down on Thursday when the Marlins finally started their rebuilding process by sending Dee Gordon to the Mariners. Gordon has been one of the better second baseman in the game in recent years, and while he’s below superstar level he is a great hitter for average and one of the elite baserunners in baseball. Interestingly, the Mariners already have Robinson Cano at second base so the plan is to convert Gordon to center field. For his part, Gordon is willing to make the switch and has already had talks with Seattle legend Ken Griffey Jr. regarding help with the transition. In return, Miami got three prospects back led by command/control pitcher Nick Neidert. Seattle also got $1 million in international money, presumably for Shohei Ohtani. The result of this is that the Mariners lineup is looking pretty damn good right now, particularly if they do land Ohtani.

C- Mike Zunino

1B - Ryon Healy

2B - Robinson Cano

SS- Jean Segura

3B - Kyle Seager

LF - Nelson Cruz

CF - Dee Gordon

RF - Mitch Haniger

DH - Shohei Ohtani

That is a contending lineup, and one the rest of the American League will surely fear.

Tyler Chatwood signs a three-year deal with the Cubs

Heading into this offseason, the pitching market was headlined by Ohtani, Yu Darvish, Jake Arrieta and everyone else. If you didn’t get one of the top three, you were going to have to get creative. It seems that’s what the Cubs are doing here with Chatwood, who they inked to a three-year, $38 million deal. This is not a huge deal, but Chatwood has had a rough go of it in the majors. There was some thought, including from this author, that Chatwood could be a steal this offseason given how Coors Field has affected his career, but he ended up getting a little more money than I expected. Chatwood has been really good on the road in the last couple years, but more than anything him getting three years shows how underwhelming the pitching market is right now. It also makes the Red Sox happy that they are set at starting pitcher and, if anything, just have to look for depth on minor-league deals.