Giancarlo Stanton reps meet with Giants, get approval for meeting with Cards

The Miami Marlins have arranged possible trades of Giancarlo Stanton with the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants. The question now is whether Stanton will waive his no-trade clause and go along with either.

Over the past two days, representatives for Stanton have met with officials from the Giants, sources said. Stanton's people have received approval for a meeting with the Cardinals, but it's unclear when that meeting will take place, sources said.

By rule, sources affirmed Friday evening, those meetings cannot take place unless the Marlins indicate to Major League Baseball they are closing in on a deal and the league grants permission for the conversations.

But all of that talk will be meaningless unless Stanton agrees. Friends of Stanton say that in his perfect world, he'd get to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who inhabit a ballpark less than 20 miles from where the slugger attended high school.

Stanton also is said to be open-minded to listening to ideas. Through the use of his no-trade clause, however, Stanton has the power to box the debt-ridden Marlins into a very difficult decision: Keep him and his $295 million contract, or make a less-than-ideal trade with a team with which he wants to play.

The Dodgers have luxury-tax concerns and have not seriously pursued Stanton to this point, and president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has demonstrated discipline in his deal-making. Sources say that the Dodgers are monitoring the Stanton talks from afar and are aware that an opportunity with enhanced value might emerge over time if the reigning NL MVP digs in with his no-trade clause.

Agents who don't represent Stanton estimate that a move from Florida to one of the California teams could cost Stanton an additional $20-27 million in state taxes over the 10-year term of his contract.