New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton has a storybook career: an MVP, 5 All-Star selections, and 453 home runs only scratch the surface. His postseason accolades, including an ALCS MVP, a .926 career playoff OPS, and the 10th-most career playoff homers of all time (18), only further cement his legacy as one of the greatest hitters of the 21st century. However, all of these great things are in the past; looking at the present, the picture is not as pretty.
Giancarlo Stanton Is A Detriment To The Yankees’ Lineup
Stanton is now 36 years old, and with at least 2 years left on his contract, the former MVP is slowing down even faster than before. Missing the first 70 games of 2025 due to tennis elbow, Stanton still managed to hit 24 homers with a .944 OPS in 77 games. His stats look good on paper, but no matter how many regular-season homers he hits, in his twilight years, Stanton will hurt the Yankees’ lineup much more than he helps it.
Clogging Up The DH
Since coming to the Yankees from Miami in 2018, Stanton has appeared in just 202 games as an outfielder. That is an average of about 25 games per year, which is absurdly low for someone earning over $25 million. Of course, it is primarily due to a whole bunch of lower-body injuries, totaling over eight stints on the injured list with New York. As a result, Stanton has become one of MLB’s few full-time designated hitters. His offensive production has been there when the Yankees need him most, but for the majority of the time, he is preventing the Yankees from using the DH spot for other purposes.
Take last season, for example. When Ben Rice broke out as one of New York’s best hitters, manager Aaron Boone platooned him at first base with Paul Goldschmidt. This led to Rice being on the bench most of the time whenever Goldschmidt was at first, rather than sliding into the DH spot. It also prevents Aaron Judge from being the DH whenever Boone wants to give his legs a rest, at least when Stanton is also in the lineup. Overall, Stanton being New York’s full-time DH creates more problems than it solves, mainly because he’s no longer an MVP-caliber player.
Very Few Options
Still, it is nice to have Stanton around in the postseason, right? Not last October, when he slashed .192/.267/.269 with five hits and zero homers. The Yankees won’t ever bench Stanton as long as he is on the roster, which is the right move considering A) his salary and B) the leadership and presence that he brings to the team. However, Ben Rice will get more regular playing time at first base this season; who knows what kind of issues might come up next season that, for most teams, would usually be solved by using the DH spot.
If (when?) If Stanton hits 500 home runs, he will assuredly have a plaque in Cooperstown. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that in MLB, many once-great players slowly become more of a hindrance than a help to their teams. Stanton is no exception, and since the Yankees can only buy out his deal after the 2027 season, it looks like all they can hope for is a little bit of playoff magic from the man who singlehandedly took them to the World Series less than 14 months ago.
Main Photo Credits: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
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