The race to trade for Giancarlo Stanton had been narrowed down in the past few weeks, thanks to media reports, to the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants. For fans hoping either of those deals would happen soon, we’ve got bad news for you.

The latest report on the Stanton sweepstakes is about to be a gut punch.

According to Craig Mish, a Miami-based host for SiriusXM who has been all over the Stanton story, and The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, the reigning NL MVP won’t approve a trade to either team. Stanton has a full no-trade clause in his 13-year, $325 million deal with the Miami Marlins, so it’s up to him where he gets traded.

Furthermore, Mish says Stanton *would* accept a trade to four teams and they’re the four teams that were in the ALCS and NLCS — the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros. Talk about the rich getting richer.

Now told Stanton will approve : Dodgers

Yankees

Cubs

Astros — Craig Mish (@CraigMish) December 8, 2017





A few other interesting details from Mish:

• Stanton’s desire to win has been “understated” in reports so far, Mish says — and the notion that Stanton only wants to play on the West Coast isn’t exactly right.

• The Cardinals and Giants got the most play in this saga because the Marlins agreed to deals with them, but those deals couldn’t go forward without Stanton’s approval. He took meetings with both teams, but they don’t appear to have swayed his thinking as of yet.

• Mish says he “doesn’t believe” the Astros or Cubs are involved in high-level trade talks for Stanton at this point. Rather, the news is that Stanton would be interested in going to those teams.

We’re all well aware of Stanton’s fondness for the Dodgers, since he’s from L.A. The Yankees, meanwhile, are newer to this. Rosenthal also reports the Yankees are in play, so it sounds legit, at least from Stanton’s end. (Can you imagine Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sanchez playing in Yankee Stadium? Sheesh).

Rosenthal says the “situation remains fluid” with Stanton, which should be obvious. Unlike many trades, there are three parties here — the two teams that have to agree to a deal and then Stanton, who has veto power. If he wakes up tomorrow and decides he wants to play in San Francisco, then everything changes.

And as an MVP with a no-trade clause whose team is now trying to cut costs and send him away, Stanton has every right to wait for the deal he prefers.

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz