New York Yankees slugging DH Giancarlo Stanton has done more than enough to earn a lifetime of goodwill in the Bronx. His 2024 postseason performance should’ve confirmed as much for any remaining stragglers. Without Stanton’s heater of all heaters, the Yankees do not reach the World Series. Inarguable.

At the best of his abilities, he remains a fearsome lineup presence, and could provide ideal right-handed balance in a vacuum. But the 2025 Yankees are not playing in a vacuum. They’re playing with a version of Stanton who’s less than, to the naked eye and to keener observers alike. This isn’t the version of Stanton that helps paper over the lineup’s flaws. This is the version of Stanton that messes with lineup chemistry and prevents the DH spot from rotating helpfully between tired bodies. This is the version of Stanton that haunts flexibility and makes a difficult choice both easy and incorrect for Aaron Boone every game day.

And this is the version of Stanton that needs to be honest with himself in the days to come about what he can meaningfully contribute in his current state.

On the day Stanton returned to the lineup, the Yankees were facing their first real adversity of the season, heading home after being swept and shut down in Boston. He was penciled into the lineup for the opening game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, which might be the defining loss of the Yankees’ current swoon, a scoreless affair in which a free runner on second base was wasted in innings nine, 10 and 11.

Stanton was that runner in the ninth. That might represent his most meaningful contribution of the campaign to date. Counting that series opener, the Yankees are 6-9, looking increasingly staid with runners in scoring position by the day.

Every night, they take a slim lead. Every night, they surrender that lead. Every night, they wave the white flag once that lead is gone. If Stanton reaches base, he struggles to move further than station-to-station. He typically doesn’t reach; his average is in the low .200s and his OPS is hovering narrowly above .600. The power has vanished. The power is the game.

If Stanton is not feeling up to the challenge — and people who follow the team daily have laid it plain recently that, if he is, he certainly doesn’t look like it — he needs to initiate a difficult conversation with Aaron Boone, who will not do so himself.

Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton must be honest with Aaron Boone about his current capacity to contribute

Building a bench after the trade deadline — with both Stanton and DJ LeMahieu weighing down the roster — will be exceedingly difficult. The Yankees have to upgrade at third base. They have to find someone who can comfortably hold down short or second, or pinch run late in a close contest. They have two roster spots they cannot maneuver around right now in order to make that happen … at least, not without confronting a few hard truths.

They’ve avoided one of them for multiple seasons now; LeMahieu likely isn’t going anywhere. But if Stanton, a prideful man, has reached the point where he realizes his strength has been sapped, he needs to communicate that sentiment before it’s too late. We watched 2024. We know his true greatness. We’ll understand.