Miami Marlins fans are not even allowed to cheer Giancarlo Stanton’s historic home run chase without the overarching gray cloud and nuisance of speculation about whether he’s long for this team.
It’s insane when you think about it.
Stanton should be as untouchable as any pro athlete in this market. He is the best power hitter in the sport. He is in his prime. He is locked up with a long-term contract. He has a shot at becoming baseball’s all-time steroids-free, no-asterisk-needed single season home run champion (more on that later).
This and the pending ownership change from dastardly Jeffrey Loria to the group fronted by Derek Jeter are reasons enough (not to mention hosting the All-Star Game) to make this feel like a triumph of a season for the franchise even as the mid-pack Marlins fritter to a 14th consecutive year out of the playoffs.