TAMPA, Fla. — Exactly why the superstar free agents Manny Machado and Bryce Harper have remained unsigned deep into February has been the topic of bitter debate among players, fans and front offices this winter.

But one of the primary reasons that neither is currently in a Yankees uniform was hard to miss as position players reported to camp on Monday: Giancarlo Stanton, the 6-foot-6, 245-pound slugger entering his second season in New York healthier and with higher expectations.

More than a year ago, the Yankees pulled off a blockbuster trade for Stanton, the 2017 National League most valuable player, taking on what remained of his 13-year $325 million contract. In his first season in the Bronx, Stanton hit .266 with 38 home runs, 100 R.B.I. and 211 strikeouts, posting an .852 on-base-plus-slugging percentage which, when adjusted for the league and ballparks, was 26 percent better than the league average.

Strong numbers, but still a noticeable drop-off from the standard he set in 2017, when he hit 59 home runs, and not quite enough to please Yankee fans who booed him when he struck out five times in the home opener and went 4 for 18 in an American League division series loss to the Boston Red Sox — the defending champions whom the Yankees find themselves chasing again.