Chicago Cubs: Trading for Giancarlo Stanton may not be worth risk

As amazing as the idea of Giancarlo Stanton in a Chicago Cubs uniform sounds, is it actually worth it to trade for him?

If you’ve been following the saga surrounding Giancarlo Stanton and his no-trade clause, you’ve probably heard by now that he would only waive his clause for four teams. A quick glance at it tells you what he wants: to play for a contender.

The organizations on that shortlist? The Houston Astros, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the New York Yankees, and the Chicago Cubs.

That’s right: your Chicago Cubs.

As the Chicago Tribune’s Steve Rosenbloom points out, the fact that Stanton would join the Cubs rather than the St. Louis Cardinals serves as a bragging rights moment for the North Siders over their hated rivals.

But let’s take stock of the gravity of what that means: Stanton, the guy who legitimately threatened Babe Ruth and Roger Maris’ home run totals last year, would welcome being a Chicago Cub.

Wow. Let your imaginations run wild with that one.

Stanton hitting balls onto the rooftops behind the left field bleachers and launching moonshots on the Red Line. Getting Jason Heyward and his ineffective offense off the field. Putting a guy who can hit 30 home runs in his sleep in a lineup with Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo.

Good Lord, that sounds almost too good to be true.

And that’s because it might be.

Trade worth the trouble?

for one thing, can we even start to fathom with the Cubs would be giving up in prospects and players to acquire Stanton in a trade?

You’re probably ponying up about four of your top prospects right now—guys like Oscar de la Cruz, Jose Albertos, Adbert Alzolay and Alex Lange—along with a major league contributor or two. I don’t know if anyone here that might garner the kind of outrage that trading Eloy Jimenez might, but Cubs fans have started to love their prospects with a jealous, greedy love. As such, that might not go over well here.

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Also, there’s a lot of money and a lot of years potentially left on that deal. Like, 10 years and almost $300 million worth. If Stanton drops off a cliff or struggles with injuries, that contract is going to be a bear to move.

Keep in mind that Stanton is also 29 years old, which could become a problem if you get locked into a long deal.

He’s clearly in his prime and could be amazing for a few more years. But if you want to make a splash soon, might you not be better suited to make a run at Bryce Harper in free agency/via trade?

Harper is three years younger and, on the whole, a better player. A long contract with him might represent a better deal.

Personally, I think that Stanton, not unlike Kyle Schwarber, would be better suited for an American League club where he could just DH and mash baseballs. Then again, maybe he prefers to also play in the field even though he’s not a special defender. We’ll see.

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As exciting as Stanton could be in Chicago, I’m just not sure they’re going to pull this one off. Ultimately, I would expect that the idea of giving up prospects and taking on a tremendous amount of money might not seem as appealing as just throwing the checkbook at Harper next year without losing anything.

Then again, I’m not Theo Epstein. I’m also not actually a Chicago Cubs fan, so maybe those of you that are should give your thoughts below.

Worth it, or not?