Trade Pitch Sees Yankees Acquiring Impact Outfielder to Replace Injured Stanton

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Yankees predicted to trade for outfielder to replace Giancarlo Stanton.

The New York Yankees could be without Giancarlo Stanton for the foreseeable future, and one analyst has them acquiring an impact outfielder to replace him in a trade.

MLB analyst Jacob Mountz of FanSided proposed a deal that would see the Yankees acquiring Lars Nootbar from the St. Louis Cardinals.

Yankees acquire:

Lars Nootbaar

Cardinals acquire:

Roderick Arias
Rafael Flores

The proposed deal would be intriguing as the Yankees would acquire Nootbar for two prospects as St. Louis helps kickstart its rebuild.

Nootbaar is set to earn $2.95 million in 2025 and has two more years of control before being a free agent in 2028. The outfielder would be a replacement for Stanton, as although he is a worse hitter than the slugger, he is a much better fielder and baserunner. Nootbaar hit .244 with 12 home runs and 45 RBIs with the Cardinals in 2024.

In return, the Yankees would deal Arias, who’s the team’s seventh-ranked prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. Arias is a middle infielder who’s 20 and reached A last season. He hit .233 with 13 home runs and 74 RBIs in 2024.

St. Louis would also acquire Flores, who’s the Yankees’ 17th-ranked prospect. Flores is a catcher and a first baseman and reached AA last season and is expected to reach the majors in 2026, according to MLB Pipeline. Flores hit .279 with 21 home runs and 68 RBIs in 2024.

Analyst Explains Yankees Trading for Nootbaar

New York could use another outfielder due to the injury to Stanton.

Mountz believes Nootbaar would be a good replacement for Stanton as he would be a low-cost acquisition. He also would give New York some depth behind Jasson Dominguez.

“As for the Yankees, trading for Nootbaar would also give them a reliable outfielder,” Mountz wrote. “Jasson Dominguez, who has struggled to adjust to left field, could spend some time at DH while he learns corner outfield defense in a way that creates less pressure for himself. New York might also find a suitable leadoff hitter in Nootbaar.”

Mountz believes Nootbaar would be the Yankees’ top option for New York if they do look to make a trade to replace Stanton.

Stanton Expected to Miss Multiple Months

Stanton entered spring training with injuries to both of his elbows.

Now, as Stanton has also suffered another injury, as MLB insider Jon Heyman reported the outfielder is dealing with a calf injury.

“Stanton is said to be dealing with a chronic calf issue as well as the elbow injuries,” Heyman wrote in his New York Post column.

Heyman says the elbow issues were ‘the bigger problem’ as there is a scenario where he needs surgery and could miss multiple months and perhaps the season.

Stanton, however, is hopeful his treatment and rehab will be enough as he’s focused on returning as soon as possible.

“Let’s finish the treatment and go from there,” Stanton said. “I absolutely hate this. I’m going to get back as soon as possible… It’s going to get to a point of pain tolerance and go from there. I don’t think it’s going to be a 100 percent healed thing and start up. It’ll be, get to a point and just deal with it, similar to last year.”

Stanton hit .233 with 27 home runs and 72 RBIs last season with the Yankees.

Cole Shelton Cole Shelton covers the NHL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has covered pro and college sports since 2016, including bylines at BJ Penn, USA Today, SB Nation, Rotowire, Canadian Baseball Network and more. More about Cole Shelton