The New York Yankees could be looking to replace Giancarlo Stanton’s bat for the beginning of the 2025 MLB season.
Stanton showed up to spring training with injuries to both of his elbows as he has yet to resume baseball activities. With the slugger likely going to not be ready for Opening Day, MLB insider Jon Heyman of The New York Post revealed the Yankees have contacted J.D. Martinez to potentially come in and replace Stanton.
“There’s no timetable yet on Yankees star DH Giancarlo Stanton, who’s sidelined with painful tendon issues in both elbows and undergoing testing they’re characterizing as unrelated back in New York,” Heyman wrote. “But with Stanton unable to do any baseball activity and in New York, it seems very unlikely he’ll be ready for Opening Day and could possibly be out for weeks. Best wishes to Stanton, one of the game’s best guys.
“There’s been some contact with J.D. Martinez. But it might be hard to figure out how to bring him in as a stopgap player because there’s surely hope and expectation for Stanton to return,” Heyman added.
Martinez is still a free agent after hitting .235 with 16 home runs and 69 RBIs with the New York Mets last season. The six-time All-Star has a career-high of 45 home runs, which he accomplished in 2017, while also recording 130 RBIs, which he accomplished in 2018.
Martinez would be a good stopgap to be the Yankees’ DH until Stanton is back. Once Stanton is back, the slugger could be a bench bat and add some more firepower to New York’s offense.
Yankees Unsure on Stanton’s Timeline
Stanton was expected to be a key part of the Yankees’ offense this season. However, he entered spring training with injuries to his elbows.
The slugger is experiencing soreness in both of his elbows, which he compared to tennis elbow, manager Aaron Boone revealed.
“I don’t know; we’ll see,” Boone said on February 16 . “It’s tough to say. I’m not going to put any timeline on it. We’re just going to be smart with it.”
With Stanton dealing with the injuries, Boone says New York will be patient with him and won’t rush anything.
“He was doing stuff [in the offseason] and then he kind of shut down and got treatments,” Boone said. “It’s just something we don’t want to rush, if we can get to a really good spot and know we’re going to have to probably deal with some maintenance with it throughout the year. We don’t want to force anything too early.”
Stanton has three years left on his 13-year $325.5 million deal with the Yankees. He hit .233 with 27 home runs and 72 RBIs in the regular season while hitting .273 with 7 home runs and 16 RBIs in the playoffs.
New York’s No. 2 Prospect Turning Heads at Spring Training
As spring training continues, the Yankees’ second-ranked prospect Spencer Jones has been turning heads.
Jones was New York’s first-round pick in 2022 and has been crushing balls in camp, which has impressed the team.
“Not a lot of guys hit a ball like that,” Boone said about Jones.
Jones will likely be in Double-A to start the season but could rise quickly up to the majors.
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