New York Yankees: Giancarlo Stanton’s effect on the 2019 free agent class

The New York Yankees officially acquired slugger Giancarlo Stanton on Monday, creating one of the scariest middles of the order in baseball. But what does the Giancarlo trade mean for the Yankees’ 2019 free agency plans?

After acquiring Giancarlo Stanton, the New York Yankees have a ton of power in their lineup. Pairing Stanton with Aaron Judge is scary enough, but add in Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird, and Didi Gregorius and opposing pitchers will have a tough time keeping the ball in the yard.

The Yankees are quickly getting back to their Evil Empire ways and according to Hal Steinbrenner, they are “not done yet”. There could be more moves coming this offseason, but a lot of teams are navigating this offseason with one eye towards next offseason.

The 2019 free agent class is loaded. Headlined by Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, the class also includes Yasiel Puig, Josh Donaldson, Andrew McCutchen, Daniel Murphy, Adam Jones, and Charlie Blackmon. Need help on the mound? Andrew Miller, Dallas Keuchel, Craig Kimbrel, Zach Britton, Kelvin Herrera, Drew Pomeranz, and Matt Harvey are also free agents following next season. Clayton Kershaw, David Price, Jason Heyward, Hanley Ramirez, and Cole Hamels all have options in their contracts that could put them on the market as well.

Money will be flying around next offseason, and in true Evil Empire fashion, the New York Yankees are expected to be involved.

But what effect does Giancarlo Stanton have on next offseason’s plans? Every move impacts a team’s direction, their strengths, their weaknesses, their needs and the bigger the move, the bigger the impact.

Let’s take a look at how Stanton affects the New York Yankees’ chances of pursuing a few of the top free agents in the 2019 class.