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A baseball rests atop a pile of snow at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Giancarlo Stanton is the active player with the most home runs, at 454. Photo courtesy of @baseballhall on Instagram<\/p>\nA baseball rests atop a pile of snow at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Giancarlo Stanton is the active player with the most home runs, at 454. Photo courtesy of @baseballhall on Instagram<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s\u00a0a fun fact that might make you feel\u00a0old:\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0been\u00a0almost a\u00a0decade since Giancarlo Stanton was named National League MVP as a Miami Marlin after\u00a0leading Major League Baseball in home runs with 59.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Less than a month after winning that\u00a0award, Stanton was dealt to the New York Yankees as part of the Marlins\u2019 fire sale that also saw\u00a0outfield mates\u00a0Christian\u00a0Yelich\u00a0and\u00a0Marcell Ozuna\u00a0get\u00a0shipped out\u00a0of town.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now entering his ninth season in\u00a0pinstripes,\u00a0the\u00a0trade\u00a0was\u00a0a clear win for the Yankees. Stanton has accumulated 11.5 wins above replacement across 748 games in the Bronx, never scratching the heights of his\u00a0time\u00a0in Miami but\u00a0providing 187 home runs and counting. In comparison, the three-player package of former all-star second baseman Starlin Castro and prospects Jos\u00e9\u00a0Devers and Jorge Guzm\u00e1n\u00a0sent to Miami resulted in\u00a0a combined\u00a02.4 WAR.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 36-year-old\u00a0Stanton\u00a0is off to one of his hottest starts in years\u00a0through eight games,\u00a0sprinting out of the gates\u00a0with a\u00a0.394 batting average while sitting tied for sixth in MLB\u00a0in\u00a0hits.\u00a0Any performance\u00a0this early in the season\u00a0is\u00a0to be taken with a grain of salt.\u00a0Still, the promising start reaffirms the unexpected but well-rounded approach Stanton took at the plate\u00a0in 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As has been the case every time Stanton has gone on a hot streak\u00a0in recent\u00a0seasons, debates\u00a0arise whether the MLB veteran of 17 seasons deserves to be a Hall of Famer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That conversation starts and often ends with his 454 career home runs, the\u00a0most of any\u00a0active player.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
28\u00a0players have reached\u00a0500 career home\u00a0runs\u00a0in the 150-year history of\u00a0MLB. Of those 28\u00a0players, 19 are enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.\u00a0Two more, Miguel Cabrera and Albert Pujols, will be honored in Cooperstown,\u00a0N.Y.,\u00a0as soon as they are eligible.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The remaining\u00a0seven all have connections with steroids through either\u00a0positive\u00a0tests, being named in\u00a0the Mitchell Report<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0seemingly\u00a0admitting\u00a0to\u00a0their use<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Stanton\u00a0is\u00a0within\u00a0striking\u00a0range of the 500 threshold that\u00a0seems to be\u00a0an automatic qualifier. Reaching that mark will be easier said than done.\u00a0<\/p>\n The most obvious barrier is injuries, something that Stanton knows all too well.\u00a0\u00a0Coming into this season,\u00a0Stanton had only appeared in 56.4% of the\u00a0Yankees\u2019\u00a01,032 regular season games\u00a0since\u00a02019,\u00a0according to\u00a0Randy Miller\u00a0of\u00a0NJ.com<\/a>. He\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0make his season debut until mid-June last season.\u00a0<\/p>\n Prior to 2025, Stanton was diagnosed with both a chronic calf issue and\u00a0tennis elbow in both\u00a0arms,\u00a0according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post<\/a>. Both issues persist to this\u00a0day, with Stanton saying the elbow issues will remain throughout the rest of his career, according to the NJ.com article.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t open a bottle,\u201d Stanton\u00a0said to\u00a0Miller. \u201cI\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0open a bag of chips \u2026 a bag of anything.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0the way it is.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The guarantees in Stanton\u2019s contract signed with Miami expire after 2027. The Yankees\u00a0hold a club option for his 2028 services at a rate of $25 million. There is a $10 million buyout on that\u00a0option, meaning that\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0a net-$15 million decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n Either way, Stanton is\u00a0guaranteed\u00a0at least\u00a0two seasons to hit 46 home runs. If he gets three,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0almost a\u00a0lock. If he gets two, it might come down to the wire.\u00a0He reached at least 24\u00a0home runs\u00a0in each of the last three seasons, coming in a\u00a0bit higher in 2024 with 27.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n If Stanton\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0stay healthy or\u00a0otherwise\u00a0falls\u00a0short of 500, his other career accomplishments\u00a0likely\u00a0won\u2019t\u00a0be enough to make up the difference.\u00a0<\/p>\n Stanton will\u00a0presumably\u00a0fall\u00a0short of 2,000 hits.\u00a0Besides the\u00a0MVP\u00a0award, his\u00a0five all-star appearances and\u00a0smattering of Silver Sluggers and other\u00a0similar\u00a0awards early in his\u00a0career\u00a0are\u00a0r\u00e9sum\u00e9 builders but\u00a0not\u00a0game changers.\u00a0His other stats\u00a0are also\u00a0lacking compared to the average\u00a0Hall of\u00a0Fame candidate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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New York Yankees designated hitter and outfielder Giancarlo Stanton. Stanton won the National League MVP in 2017 as a member of the Miami Marlins. Photo courtesy of @giancarlo818 on Instagram<\/p>\n