Despite Cardinals center fielder Dexter Fowler’s best efforts, Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton will not join him in St. Louis.
The Cardinals released a statement Friday saying Stanton will not waive his no-trade clause to come to St. Louis, according to MLB.com.
“We felt this was a great landing spot for him, but it was not meant to be,” Cardinals president John Mozeliak said in a statement.
The #STLCards today issued the following statement regarding the pursuit of Giancarlo Stanton. pic.twitter.com/rZekmW2sOf
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) December 8, 2017
Over the last five weeks, the Marlins have been trying to move Stanton, 28, who has a guaranteed $295 million left on his contract. Stanton is reportedly shifting his focus to the Dodgers and Yankees, according to Fox analyst Ken Rosenthal.
Stanton, a four-time All-Star, hit a career-high 59 home runs last season with the Marlins. He also drove in 132 runs.
Fowler, the former Cubs leadoff hitter, had tried to recruit Stanton to the Cardinals by poking fun at Giants right fielder Hunter Pence’s efforts to persuade him the Giants would be a good fit for the reigning National League MVP.
Pence posted a pictures of him and Stanton wearing their Halloween costumes and tweeted: “Hey @Giancarl818, can you imagine our Powers combines?!? #ComeBashInTheBay.”
Hey @Giancarlo818, can you imagine our Powers combined?!? #ComeBashInTheBay pic.twitter.com/u8Xsh9MN9K
— Hunter Pence (@hunterpence) December 5, 2017
Fowler was quick to point out that Stanton plays Pence’s position in right field, and joked that Stanton coming to San Francisco would not be “good job security” for Pence. He also tagged on the hashtag “#comeflexwithdex” in his tweet.