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Miami Marlins OF Giancarlo Stanton voids trade to St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants

By The Sports Xchange
Miami Marlins Giancarlo Stanton runs the bases after hitting a three-run home run against the Washington Nationals in the sixth inning at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. on August 8, 2017. File photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
Miami Marlins Giancarlo Stanton runs the bases after hitting a three-run home run against the Washington Nationals in the sixth inning at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. on August 8, 2017. File photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

The St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants both announced Friday that they agreed to deals to acquire Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton but the National League MVP declined to waive his no-trade clause.

"We had an agreement to acquire Giancarlo Stanton from the Miami Marlins, subject to him waiving his no-trade clause," Cardinals CEO Bill DeWitt Jr. said in a statement. "We have been notified that he will not waive his no-trade clause to come to St. Louis.

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"While we are disappointed in his decision, we will continue to make every effort to improve our club for the upcoming season."

The Giants released a similar statement about their efforts to acquire Stanton.

"Our agreement with the Marlins to acquire Giancarlo Stanton subject to his waiving of the no-trade clause will not move forward and it is our understanding that the Marlins and Stanton are exploring other options," the Giants said in their statement.

The Cardinals and Giants both targeted Stanton from the time that new Marlins ownership -- led by Derek Jeter -- made it known they wanted to move Stanton to help slash payroll. There is a guaranteed $295 million remaining on Stanton's contract.

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The announcements came on the same day that news leaked that the New York Yankees are among Stanton's preferred choices. He also likes the idea of playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Giants and the Cardinals were originally viewed as co-favorites to land Stanton.

"Unfortunately we were not able to convince Stanton to waive his no-trade clause and join the Cardinals," president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said in the team's statement. "We felt this was a great landing spot for him, but it was not meant to be."

The possible interest from the Yankees is a bit of a surprise since owner Hal Steinbrenner has publicly declared his team's payroll will remain below the $197 million luxury tax.

"It's absolutely a goal of mine -- to be under," Steinbrenner said at last month's owners meetings. "You can have a world championship-caliber team and not have a $200-plus million payroll, and I think we're finally getting to a point where that's coming true for us, because we've got a lot of good young players on our team."

Other reports claim Stanton may consider a trade to the Chicago Cubs or Houston Astros.

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Stanton hit 59 homers and drove in 132 runs in his big 2017 campaign.

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