The Miami Marlins showed their hand by trading Dee Gordon on Thursday, not that their plan to cut payroll was much of a secret. Gordon, lacking a no-trade clause, could not stop the Marlins from sending him to the Seattle Mariners; nor can he stop the Mariners from moving him from second base to center field. But Giancarlo Stanton, as the Marlins are acutely aware, cannot be pushed around so easily.



Stanton, the reigning National League MVP, holds a full no-trade clause, thanks to the foresight of his agents and the largesse of the Marlins’ previous ownership. The Gordon trade will not alarm Stanton; if anything, it only will harden him. The Marlins’ current ownership had better heed his desire to join the Los Angeles Dodgers or maybe even the New York Yankees, or their efforts to move him will continue to go nowhere.



In recent days, multiple major league sources have told The Athletic that Stanton does not want the San Francisco Giants or St. Louis...