TAMPA — Asked about his legacy with the Yankees on Tuesday, Giancarlo Stanton declared that his “story is still being written.”
The Bronx tale that he’s authored is already a compelling one, as he’s gone from disappointing fans in the early stages of his injury-riddled, pinstriped tenure to earning their admiration with his postseason heroics and clubhouse leadership. Stanton is proof that one can flip the script in baseball’s most demanding market, and he’s even been able to do it without a championship ring on his finger.
But it’s that finishing touch, the same one that has eluded Aaron Judge, Aaron Boone and other prominent Yankees of this era, that serves as a “fuel source,” Stanton said Tuesday.
“It’s definitely an incomplete story without that,” he added. “The point of being a Yankee is being a champion. So there’s always going to be a stain there without that.”
Fair or not, Stanton has a point when it comes to the high standards that can be found at One East 161st Street. Neither he nor Judge want to join the ranks of greatest Yankees to never win a championship, a group headlined by Don Mattingly.
Fortunately for both, there’s still time, though Stanton has less of it as he prepares for his age 36 season. And with a potential lockout threatening part, if not all, of the 2027 season, there’s no telling how many opportunities the 2017 NL MVP will have beyond the upcoming campaign.
Stanton came close to achieving his goal in 2024, powering the Yankees through the playoffs – he was named ALCS MVP — and to the World Series. But his heroics couldn’t stop his hometown Dodgers from winning that final round.
That postseason performance won over any remaining fans on the fence, even if it didn’t secure the hardware Stanton craves.
“I’ve always felt appreciated,” Stanton, who didn’t have the best 2025 postseason, said of his down and up relationship with fans. “I mean, there’s going to be hate and appreciation always.
“This is a results business, a results city. So if you’re not getting results, you’re gonna assume [you’re] not appreciated, but my job is to get results.”
Stanton, coming off two strong seasons despite being bothered by tennis elbows over that stretch, will look to keep getting results in 2026.
He reiterated Tuesday that his elbow issues aren’t going away — he’s also suffered a long list of lower-body injuries — but he reported to camp “ready to go” this year after missing all of spring training and the first few months of the regular season in 2025.
“As I’ve said before, it’s not going anywhere,” Stanton said of his elbows. “There’s always gonna be maintenance, but it didn’t hinder me from any [offseason] work, and that’s the most important.”
With Stanton’s body always a consideration, Aaron Boone said that he plans on taking his time before getting the designated hitter into spring training games. The Yankees will also be proactive in getting Stanton off days during the regular season, an approach that the player believes kept him healthy enough after he made his season debut last June.
For similar reasons, Boone would also like to keep the outfield in play for the veteran after Stanton briefly returned to defending last season while Judge recovered from a flexor strain. And if that weren’t hopeful enough, the manager has even dreamed about the possibility of Stanton, looking lean in the early days of camp, avoiding the injured list for an entire season.
“He’s evolved in how he trains, how he takes care of himself, which you have to do if you’re gonna have a long career and have had some of the injuries that he’s had to deal with,” Boone said. “You’ve gotta evolve, and he’s constantly doing that.
“So yeah, I do [think that’s possible]. In a perfect world, he’s healthy the whole way.”
