First big day of MLB hot stove action impacts NL East

Somewhere along the line, somebody started equating kitchen appliances with Major League Baseball roster moves. And because of that, we now say things like "The 2014-15 MLB hot stove is heating up!" It's thrilling.

Monday saw the first blockbuster action of the offseason, but relax - none of it involved the Phillies. It just touched them, slightly.

Giancarlo Stanton locked up for more than a decade

No, the Marlins' 25-year-old slugger is going to be a Marlin for a while. One of the most sought-after players on a market starved for offense, Stanton has been poked at and sniffed around by curious teams for years, ever since Miami acquired a bunch of players like Jose Reyes, Mark Buerhle and Heath Bell, had a terrible year, and sent them all to Toronto.

Stanton, their remaining good player, was thought to soon be on his way out as well. But instead, Miami dug their fins in deeper, clutching Stanton with all their slithery might, and now he is part of a young team that looked more like they knew what they were doing in 2014. They also got to play in the same division as the Phillies and Mets (and Braves), so the door was always open.

2014 wasn't the Marlins' year, but they are hoping that one of the next 13 years might be. That was why they locked up Stanton to a cartoonish 13-year, $325 million contract, easily setting a new MLB record and guaranteeing that they will be talked about in baseball contract circles for the entire next generation, until somebody offers Mike Trout a bajillion dollars to play for 20 more years and sleep in a suspension chamber during the offseason to prevent aging.

Hate to shove Darren Rovell down your throat, but he did do some simple math today:

Now everyone thinks the Marlins are crazy, etc., etc., but we know the true value of this deal: it takes some of the focus off Ryan Howard's extension.

Stanton led the National League in home runs (37), slugging percentage (.555), and touched bases (299) in 2014, his fifth in the league. He was an All-Star for the second time, a Silver Slugger winner for the first time, and finished second in MVP voting. However, he has missed significant time, thanks to leg injuries, eye injuries, and last season in September he took a pitch to the face that prematurely ended his year.

At least for now, it's bad news for the Phillies, that they get to look forward to many, many years against one of the most prolific hitters of the current generation. He has a .271/.353/.508 career slash line against the Phillies, with 15 home runs and 32 RBI in 240 at-bats. However, it's worse news for the Nationals, against whom Stanton has brutalized to the tune of .317 for his career. Sorry, Nats.

Braves trade Jason Heyward to Cardinals

The Phillies won't have to worry about one of the Braves' better players, Jason Heyward, nearly as much. The news popped up from the Cardinals Twitter feed quite suddenly Monday morning, having evaded all beat writers and sources, that Heyward was shipped to St. Louis with RHP Jordan Walden in exchange for RHP Shelby Miller and minor league RHP Tyrell Jenkins.

When Braves interim general manager John Hart and the Atlanta front office said they were ready to deal players, they weren't kidding, explaining that everyone other than their Nos. 1-3 starters and Freddie Freeman, Andrelton Simmons, and Craig Kimbrel would be up for grabs. Which, okay, doesn't really leave a whole lot of desirable pieces besides Heyward - Chris Johnson? Justin Upton? B.J. Upton? Who even plays second base down there anymore?

Still, it's the offseason's first big trade, giving the Cardinals exactly the sort of elite defender and top WAR accruer (Heyward is only behind Andrew McCutchen, Mike Trout, Alex Gordon, and Carlos Gomez in WAR among outfielders from 2012-14 and one spot above, hey, Giancarlo Stanton) they wanted in their outfield. So as usual, the Cardinals make a trade that makes them better and everybody just has to deal with it.

Heyward wasn't exactly the player the Braves wanted after he was called up - they wanted a hitter who could provide a powerful 1-2 punch with fellow rookie Freddie Freeman. But the two-time Gold Glover wound up being a far more valuable defensive outfielder - so far - even though he did manage a perfectly acceptabled .262/.351/.429 over five seasons.

He has a two-year deal that ends after 2015 and earns him $8.3 million, which is part of the motivation behind him being dealt, as he would not have likely re-signed with Atlanta. His absence leaves a hole in the Braves' outfield, to be presumably filled by Evan Gattis, a former catcher who does not belong in the same outfield conversation as the guy he is replacing.

It's the most beneficial-for-the-Phillies passing of the Braves' torch since Ryan Doumit and Gerald Laird replaced Brian McCann.

Russell Martin signs with Blue Jays

When you looked at 31-year-old catcher Russell Martin's deal with Toronto - five years, $82 million - it may seem like a lot. But catching talent in the majors is at a real low, and on top of that, no one is going to play for the Blue Jays voluntarily without receiving a fun overpay.

Playing with the Pirates in 2014, Martin had his most productive season since 2007 when he was 24. Hitting .290/.402/.430 (and receiving MVP votes each of his two years with the Pirates), his absence as the Pittsburgh backstop will be more one of the more noticeable in the NL Central, especially as the Cardinals went ahead and got better Monday. The Buccos' above average defense took a hit, as well, with Martin's 2.0-2.5 dWAR no longer behind the plate.

Martin's signing pulls Toronto out of negotiations with other stars, like Melky Cabrera, the loss of whom would gain them back the draft pick they lost by bringing in Martin.

This was merely table setting for what's to come. The stove is certainly heating up, which again, means that baseball deals are forthcoming. Somehow.