Should #Cardinals pursue Josh Donaldson instead of Giancarlo Stanton?

Josh Donaldson

On Twitter, James Cameron suggests he'd look to do that first. He has a proposed trade on Fangraphs: The Cardinals send third baseman Jedd Gyorko and current first baseman Matt Carpenter to Toronto for top-flight third baseman Donaldson.

Pluses?

Donaldson has higher performance than Giancarlo Stanton. And, until this year, fewer injury problems — a lot fewer.

Minuses? A free agent after this year. Yes, Stanton has that monster contract, but maybe the Cards would get lucky on him opting out. They'd still have three years of him until then. And, you don't think Donaldson's not going to want — and get — the high side of $25M himself?

Minuses related to that? Donaldson is four years older than Stanton and at a position where people don't play much after 35.

And on contracts, remember the last one-year player for whom the Cards traded? Jason Heyward crashed and burned here, then got the Cubs to overpay him.

So, I'm against Cameron. Hey notes Carp's value for the Jays could go up if he's over his shoulder, as well as this clearing 1B space in St. Louis.

He could do the same in a trade to Miami, if necessary, in exchange for owner faceplate Derek Jeter eating more of Stanton's contract.

(If I'm the Cards, I get a certain amount of that contract eating in Stanton's three pre-opt-out years. That way, there's some benefit even if he walks. [I assume Mo won't pay $35M or more if he does walk and wants that much.])

Giancarlo Stanton

In an earlier post, I offered a few thoughts on what Mo should offer for Stanton.

I say clear out the OF logjam and send BOTH Randal Grichuk and Stephen Piscotty. The Giant is in right, and Tommy Pham is your likely center fielder with Dexter Fowler in left. Pham showed he's at least as good as Fowler defensively.

Those two players might not be enough. Throw in Aledmys Diaz, assuming that Paul DeJong is your shortstop of the future. Besides, the Cuban angle with Diaz in Miami could play well.

I'll add Tyler Lyons or some other lower-level pitcher, too. (None of the top starters, though, as Waino needs a knife and Lance Lynn could be allowed to walk.) And Greg Garcia if the Marlins want yet more infield depth. Or Jedd Gyorko if absolutely necessary — with the Padres paying part of his contract, he's cheap enough on the Marlins side. Or, Carpenter instead of Gyorko, which frees room at first for Jose Martinez.

If necessary, I will toss in DeJong and keep Diaz.

The Marlins could use the infield depth. B-Ref generously lists Miguel Rojas as their best and primary shortstop. Dee Gordon is OK but no more than that at second. Ditto for third in Miami, where Derek Dietrich is OK with the bat but not a natural third baseman.

That's enough on the player side. If Jeter wants more, he has to agree to eat some contract. Or agree to take Fowler instead of Grichuk and eat contract back. (That's hypothetical, as Fowler would never wave his no-trade to go to Florida.)

Anyway, Stanton and the Fish are reportedly working under a Dec. 10 cutline. Stand by.

That's as Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch reports that, if the Cards and Stanton get close, MLB rules would allow a window of 48-72 hours for the Cards to talk directly to him about waiving his no-trade. Per Goold and MLB Trade Rumors, the Giants seem to be the main competition. The Red Sox are reportedly tepid, though Dave Dombrowski does have owner OK to go over the lux tax. The Dodgers, reportedly at one time at least Stanton's preferred landing spot, are already way over the lux tax and reportedly no more interested than the Sawks. As for the Gints? Unless they can get Jeter to eat a fair amount of contract, this could push them over the lux tax line, too. They've been over in the past, but only by modest amounts.

The Fish reportedly are working on a Dec. 10 deadline. That date is the start of winter meetings, which would mean the Cards could talk turkey during that time, if something is lining up by then.