Aaron Judge and Clarke Schmidt are the only current Yankees who have been in the organization longer than Giancarlo Stanton, who has now logged nine seasons in the Bronx since the slugger was acquired from the Marlins for a three-player trade package in December 2017. To be more accurate, “parts of” nine seasons is probably a better way to describe Stanton’s Yankees tenure, as injuries have come to define his time in the pinstripes.
Out of a possible 1356 games in those nine seasons, Stanton has seen action in just 764 of those contests. He has made 500 or more trips to the plate in only two of the nine seasons. The 2026 campaign saw Stanton accumulate the third-lowest game total in his nine years as a Yankee, as multiple strains to both of his calves limited the slugger to 26 regular-season games and two pinch-hit appearances in the playoffs.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Stanton struck out in both of those postseason at-bats, in his first game action of any kind since the last week of April. Stanton also hit a modest .250/.320/.422 with three homers in his 96 plate appearances in the regular season, translating to the second-lowest wRC+ (102) of his 17 Major League seasons with the Marlins and Yankees.
Stanton has a 114 wRC+ in 1703 PA since the start of the 2022 season, with the 157 wRC+ he posted over 281 PA in 2025 (from a slash line of .273/.350/.594 and 24 home runs) doing a lot of the heavy lifting in regards to the overall numbers. He turns 37 next month, and at this point in his career it’s hard to wonder if the Yankees will ever use him in a non-DH capacity again, given his recurring physical issues. Stanton has already been mostly a DH for years and he didn’t see any action in the field at all in 2024 or 2026, though he did log 20 appearances in the outfield in 2025.
Between these concerns and the Yankees looking for answers again following another disappointing playoff exit, it is worth wondering if Stanton might have possibly played his last game in the pinstripes. The slugger is entering the final guaranteed year of the massive 13-year, $325MM extension he signed with the Marlins back in November 2014, with Stanton owed $25MM in salary in 2027. New York holds a $25MM club option on Stanton for 2028 that will surely be bought out for $10MM, so all told, Stanton is still guaranteed $35MM for the remainder of the contract.
That number is reduced due to the terms of the original trade with Miami. Once Stanton passed on his opt-out clause following the 2020 season, the Marlins were obligated to give $30MM to the Yankees, broken down in the form of two $5MM installments each year from 2026 to 2028. The first two of those payments have already been made, so counting Miami’s upcoming $20MM contribution to Stanton’s salary, the Yankees’ share of Stanton’s guaranteed earnings is down to $15MM.
Based on pure finances, therefore, the Yankees may feel emboldened to take a $15MM flier on Stanton to see what he has left in the tank. We’re just a year removed from his impressive 2025 season, of course, and two years removed from ALCS MVP performance in 2024. Though he maybe just didn’t have enough time to get on one of his signature hot streaks this year, recent evidence suggests that when Stanton gets rolling, he can still be as dangerous as any hitter in baseball.
Manager Aaron Boone suggested this week that Luis Garcia Jr. could potentially move back to second base, after Garcia spent the entire 2026 season as a first baseman (or DH) with the Nationals and Yankees. Garcia displayed some solid glovework at first base after being a defensive liability at second in the past, but it could be that the New York coaching and developmental staff feel they can help Garcia can improve at the keystone.
If Garcia is able to play second and Ben Rice moves back into a full-time first base role, that opens up the designated hitter spot for Stanton. In the probable event that Stanton spends more time on the injured list, the Yankees could return to their alignment of Garcia at first base and Rice at DH, or the two players could remain in their infield spots and other players could be cycled through the DH spot. Judge, for instance, might be a candidate to receive more DH days in the wake of his injury-marred 2026 season, as keeping Judge healthy is obviously of paramount importance for the Yankees.
The other option is more severe, given Stanton’s long stint in the organization and his leadership role in the clubhouse. The $15MM price tag is modest enough that the Yankees could consider eating that money and releasing Stanton entirely. A trade seems unlikely, due to both Stanton’s no-trade protection and because other teams would surely be wary of spending all (or even some) of that $15MM sum to bring Stanton into the fold.
Releasing Stanton would mean giving up on the upside of his power bat, but the Yankees might feel that potential is outweighed by his lack of speed and defensive versatility, the likelihood that Stanton will miss another significant chunk of the 2027 season, or maybe just a belief that his best days are behind him at the plate. Releasing Stanton and using his roster spot on a younger and more athletic player might be preferable, especially given how New York’s lack of defense was again a key storyline in the club’s ALDS loss to the Rays.
The Yankees have again found themselves looking for answers after another disappointing playoff exit. Though the team as it stands is still in good position to contend in 2027, just making the playoffs isn’t enough for the increasingly impatient Bronx fanbase. Judge himself said in the aftermath of the ALDS that he felt the Yankees “should go all-in and do what they need to do and if we got holes, it’s finding certain players or personnel, whatever we need, we got to go out there and get it.” Releasing his good friend Stanton to make room for such a roster upgrade would be something of a darkly ironic answer to Judge’s plea, yet the Yankees might be open to such a tough decision in the name of finding a path to a championship.
