The New York Yankees thought they knew what they were getting when they traded with the Miami Marlins for Giancarlo Stanton. After all, he was the National League MVP in 2017. He had hit 59 home runs that season. He previously won two Silver Slugger awards. two Hank Aarons awards, he was an All-star four times, and a home run leader twice, all of these accolades in eight years with the Marlins.
He was born to Michael Stanton and Jacinta Garay in Los Angeles, California, on November 8, 1989. He has an older brother and older sister. He was brought up in the Sunland-Tujunga area of Los Angeles near the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. As a child, he didn’t care for his name; he preferred Mike. He didn’t go back to Giancarlo until 2012. Stanton is of Irish African American descent, although his mother had Puerto Rican ancestry.
As a youngster, Stanton was dominant in nearly every sport, including baseball and football. In 2003 he attended Verdugo Hills High School in Tujunga. Even though he was a freshman, he played on the varsity squad as a pitcher and playing in the outfield. In his sophomore year, he hit the game-winning run in the quarter-finals of the city playoffs. Although he was a star in sports, his academic grades didn’t reflect the same success.
In 2006 his parents divorced. During the process, he was switched to a private school where he could concentrate more on his grades. Almost immediately at Notre Dame High School, Giancarlo flourished on and off the field. During this time, he grew to his present height of 6′ 6″ and packed on the muscles. Those around him knew that he would make a living in sports; the question was which one. He had accepted a scholarship to play baseball for Tulane and received offers from UCLA, UNLV, and USC to play football.
In 2007 when selected by the Miami Marlins in the second round of the draft, he was paid a half-million dollars signing bonus. When he was born, his father wanted to name him Fidel, now living in Miami, the 18-year-old was glad that never came to be.  In 2008, Giancarlo spent the entire season with the Greensboro Grasshoppers of the Class-A South Atlantic League. Playing for manager Edwin Rodriguez, he was just 18 when the season started, but he torched enemy pitchers for 39 homers in 125 games. Giancarlo followed up his first campaign in pro ball with an impressive 2009 season, as he moved steadily up the organizational ladder.
Moving forward, the young Giancarlo had success after success until he was named the best player in the National League in 2017.  Following the season, the Marlins decided to dump payroll and worked out a trade with the New York Yankees. The Yankees got Giancarlo Stanton and cash considerations from the Miami Marlins in exchange for second baseman Starlin Castro, minor league right-handed pitcher Jorge Guzman and minor league infielder Jose Devers while taking on the about $275 million remaining on this contract.
On the opening day of the 2018 season, Yankee fans eagerly awaited their new star, and couldn’t wait to see what he could do for the World Series starved team. Stanton did not disappoint. On that day in his first at-bat hit cannon of a homer well into the stands. Later in the game, he doubled and drove in a run. In the ninth inning, he homered for the second time in the New York Yankee 6-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. The Yankee fans and organization knew they had a bonafide star on their hands.
Who could forget Giancarlopening Day 2018? @Giancarlo818 pic.twitter.com/q4i17h0e1V
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) March 30, 2020
New to Gary Sanchez, Giancarlo Stanton is the most controversial Yankee player. Some Yankee fans resent him as the highest-paid position player on the team, and others because the fantastic display he put on during that 2018 opening day, for the most part, has never been relived.   For the remaining days of 2018, fans were mostly delighted with his play as he carried the team during Aaron Judge’s injury. He hit 38 homers and drove in 100 runs, but the fell woefully short of his MVP 2017 season, hitting only .266 on the year. In the postseason against the Red Sox fans went sour on him, when he managed only four singles while striking out six times and hitting a meager .222 as the rival Red Sox went on to win the season crown.
On April 1, 2019, in a cruel April fool’s joke, he was placed on the 10 day IL with a bicep strain. He returned to the lineup on June 20 only to go back on the IL seven days later with a knee injury that has limited him to just nine days on the playing field before yet again going on the IL. With the Yankees suffering 30 players going on the IL for 39 injuries, New York Manager Aaron Boone hoped Stanton would return for the postseason. He ended up playing in only 18 games on the year, including the postseason. His return did little for the Yankees; in five games, he hit only one home run while batting .226.
When the Houston Astros beat the New York Yankees in six games and with Stanton playing so poorly and missing so much of the season, Yankees fans further soured on their highest-paid player. The Yankees acquired ace pitcher Gerrit Cole in the offseason, and Yankee fans thought a World Championship was undoubtedly in their future. When spring training arrived, fans found out that James Paxton had back surgery and would miss the beginning of the season. That was quickly followed by the news that Luis Severino needed Tommy John surgery and would not take the mound this season.
Star Aaron Judge didn’t play in any spring training games due to a fractured rib. While playing in only two games, Giancarlo suffered a grade one strain in his calf. In a year that the New York Yankees have their best chance at a World Championship, General Manager Brain Cashman and Field Manager Aaron Boone hope that Stanton can return to form, stay healthy, and play in the outfield, be a DH and have the kind of impact on the team that they know he can have.