Giancarlo Stanton trade: What it means for Yankees and MLB, in 2018 and beyond

Bryce Harper. Barry Bonds. Aaron Judge.

Those are just a few of the names at least tangentially affected by one of the biggest blockbuster deals in baseball history – the emerging Giancarlo Stanton trade from the Miami Marlins to the New York Yankeees.

The Ruthian proportions of the deal will reverberate well into the next decade. Here’s a breakdown on what it all means:

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The Bombers are back

And bigger than ever. It wasn’t enough that Judge slammed a major league rookie-record 52 home runs in 2017, nor that fellow Baby Bomber Gary Sanchez hit 33 homers and averages a home run every 13 at-bats in his career.

Now, the Yankees add Stanton, whose 59 home runs were the most in a single season since Bonds hit 73 in 2001. Their 241 home runs in 2017 already led the major leagues – in a season that saw a major league record number of long balls.

They’ll run Stanton, Judge, Brett Gardner and Aaron Hicks through the outfield and DH slots. All but Gardner are 28 or younger, as are Didi Gregorius and Greg Bird.

Young, light-tower power throughout the lineup. If that’s not a prescription to win in the modern era, what is?

Bryce Harper: Future Yankee, or no?

Connecting the dots from Harper to the Bronx began even before the young slugger belted his first home run for the Washington Nationals. Hey, he grew up a Yankee fan, was a generational talent and had the relentless Scott Boras as his agent. It made for great fodder whenever Harper visited New York, and pegging his free agent destination – Washington, New York, elsewhere – has been a longstanding parlor game.

Will the fact the Yankees could owe Stanton up to $295 million end this dalliance before it can start?

As Harper enters his final year under contract in Washington, both corner outfield spots in New York are accounted for, thanks to Judge and Stanton. And unless the Marlins take on a massive chunk of Stanton’s salary, it will be a challenge for the Bombers to meet their goal of dipping under the 2018 luxury tax threshold of $197 million, in order to re-set their penalty level and attack Harper’s free agent class with relative impunity.

Then again, these are the Yankees. The Stanton deal served as a chilling reminder that financial prudence often lasts only as long as the next opportunity to steal headlines and gear up for a championship run. It's hard to imagine them on the sidelines when the 2018 free agent class, headed by Harper and Manny Machado, hits the market.

Harper batting between Stanton and Judge? Well, there is the flexibility of the DH spot, too…

Still, it’s hard to deny that the Stanton deal complicates a Harper pursuit. So, get ready for a re-imagined list of Harper destinations, topped by the Dodgers (close but not too close to his Vegas home), Cubs (just check those Instagram photos with Kris Bryant) and, maybe, the Nationals.

74 home runs?

“Personally, I think 61 is the record,” Stanton said as he neared a 60th home run in September, an allusion to the fact Bonds’ record-setting 73-homer season in 2001 was ultimately accompanied by overwhelming circumstantial evidence of performance-enhancing drug use.

Stanton “only” hit 59, in a career year where health and performance finally coalesced. The question everyone can’t wait to see answered now is: What would that season look like with the cozy right-field porch at Yankee Stadium in play for 81 games?

It ranked second in the major leagues for home run friendliness, per ESPN’s park factors metric. And Stanton is escaping Marlins Park, a pitcher’s haven that was fifth-stingiest in the majors for yielding home runs.

All will boost Stanton’s production. Still, catching Bonds would require a perfect storm of health and productivity around him in the lineup. Stanton may have to settle for dislodging Babe Ruth (60 home runs) and Roger Maris (61) atop the all-time Yankee list – and laying claim to what he and others might consider the “real” record.

Does No. 27 = 28?

The off-season is just getting started, both for the Yankees and the 29 other clubs. All we know so far is this: No other team will add 7.6 Wins Above Replacement to the middle of its lineup this winter.

So, does that make the Yankees – winners of 91 games and just one win shy of a pennant – prohibitive favorites to win their 28th World Series title?

Not so fast. The Bombers still need to add at least one starting pitcher – perhaps now on the cheap, thanks to their Stanton commitment – and that rotation faces a handful of questions.

Will Sonny Gray shine all season in the Bronx, or continue the decline that marked most of his last couple seasons in Oakland? Is Luis Severino truly an ace, and will there be a hangover from his startling leap from 71 innings in 2016 to 209 (including playoffs) in 2017?

How good is Jordan Montgomery, and can he be effective over more than 155 innings?

The dominant Yankee bullpen will clean up a lot of those potential trouble spots, but then again, reliever performance can be volatile from year to year.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox remain division champs and have yet to be heard from this winter. The Astros and Indians were 10 games better than the Yankees already.

So, hold off on the ticker tape in the Canyon of Heroes. But don’t curb your enthusiasm – we’re only just now seeing the ripple effects from this epic deal.

Gallery: Notable blockbuster trades