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Giancarlo Stanton’s mind has consistently said one thing, his body another.
Whether the two will finally match up again to allow him to be any kind of contributor for the Yankees in 2027, though, remains very much in question, setting up a $15 million decision.
After three separate calf strains sidelined him for five-plus months and relegated him to a pair of pinch-hit at-bats in October, the soon-to-be 37-year-old DH entered the offseason healthy. That is the only bit of certainty the Yankees have involving Stanton, whose body continues to betray him late in his potential Hall of Fame career.
“It destroyed him that he wasn’t available to us to try to help us and impact us in a positive way for most of the run this year,” general manager Brian Cashman said earlier this week. “He continued to fight through it, as someone who is wired right should. He is wired right. His leadership in there [the clubhouse] is not in question. His care factor is not in question. It’s just keeping him on the field so he can help us in that win column — it was a huge problem for us especially in 2026.”
Regardless of what happens, the Yankees owe Stanton $15 million in 2027 (with the Marlins paying the other $10 million of his $25 million salary), which is why it makes little sense to cut him now. They have sufficient room on their 40-man roster to get to work this offseason without having to worry about a crunch just yet.
So whenever spring training actually begins, depending on the looming lockout, Stanton figures to at least have a chance to report to camp and show the Yankees what he has left. But once that happens, then the clock might start ticking louder.
The way the Yankees are currently constructed, assuming health, there may not be a whole lot of DH at-bats up for grabs even if Stanton is physically able. In his absence this season, Ben Rice essentially became a full-time DH, especially after the Yankees acquired Luis García Jr. at the trade deadline. García has another year left on his contract, and while the Yankees have teased possibly reintroducing some second base to him, that would likely only be a part-time solution instead of any kind of permanent move.
Even if García does play second occasionally and Rice can improve his defense at first base, Aaron Judge may need to start getting more DH days, meaning another potential roadblock for Stanton at-bats.
Of course, all of that banks on him being healthy in the first place, which has proven difficult. His calves limited him to 96 plate appearances in 24 games this year. Last season, his elbows (a problem that isn’t going away) limited him to 281 plate appearances in 77 games.
“Obviously we know what he’s capable of when he is healthy,” Cashman said. “We look forward to seeing if we can deploy a healthy version of him next year. But obviously that DH spot is also available or up for grabs as well, for other people that could benefit from it at the same time. We’ll have those conversations. But I can tell you this … G’s a very accountable, responsible, wired correctly professional athlete.”
That much has never been in doubt. Throughout the ups and downs of his Yankees tenure, Stanton has been one of the most respected and important voices in the clubhouse. He continued that this season despite being hurt for most of it, but the Yankees missed the threat of his right-handed bat in the middle of the order — still a presence, as his half a season in 2025 (he hit .273 with a .944 OPS and 24 home runs) reminded.
“I know it was a very tough year for Giancarlo, from the soft-tissue stuff and lower-body stuff, and that pains him because … Big G is wired right and he cares immensely and does all he can to take care of his body as best he can,” manager Aaron Boone said. “So we’ll see. We’ll see as the winter unfolds, we’ll see what the roster looks like when we get to Tampa and we go back at it. But it’s impossible to know exactly what that looks like right now.”