Sports Writer Asks: Is Controversial NY Yankees’ Star Hall-of-Fame Worthy?

At times, Giancarlo Stanton has been the most feared power hitter in Major League Baseball.

A second-round draft pick of the Florida Marlins in 2007, Stanton, then going by the first name Mike, burst onto the scene in the MLB in 2010. One year later, the 6'6" outfielder was already receiving votes for the Most Valuable Player award in the National League.

Stanton spent eight seasons in Miami, and capped off his tenure as a Marlin by winning the National League MVP in 2017. He was traded to the New York Yankees ahead of the 2018 season, and unfortunately, he began to regress soon after.

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After a productive season in 2018, his first in The Bronx, Stanton was limited to just 18 games in 2019, and has been considered an injury-prone player ever since. He goes through periods of elite hitting, but his cold streaks at the plate have become more prolonged in recent years.

READ MORE: Ten New York Athletes Who Have Uncertain Futures with Their Teams

He's a frustratingly talented player, and because of this, evaluating his legacy is nearly impossible. CBS Sports' Matt Snyder gave it a try anyway, asking rhetorically if Stanton should be a Hall-of-Fame inductee at the end of his career.

Here was Sawyer's conclusion:

"Of course, Stanton still has plenty of work to do and staying on the field is chief among the concerns. If he falls short of 500 homers, forget about it.

So far in 2024, though, he seems to be on the right track and that is keeping his Hall of Fame chances alive, even if the case might actually be on life support." -CBS Sports

To me, Stanton is a prime candidate for the Hall of Very Good, but has not had the longevity required of a player who gets inducted into the Hall of Fame. His career regression has been happening since 2019, when Stanton was only 29 years old. That's a long period of time in which Stanton's performance has been sub-par or inconsistent.

Now, if Stanton has a career renaissance, and matches or exceeds his performance in 2024 (.780 OPS, 13 HRs) for the next few years, then we can re-visit this conversation.

For now, however, I'll quote Randy Jackson from American Idol in my answering of this question: that's a no from me.