Sports Tonight: Stanton contract worth picking up

The Phillies are rumored to be one of the several teams interested in big-ticket outfielder Giancarlo Stanton should the Miami Marlins make him available.

The Marlins, who play the Phillies in a doubleheader starting at 4:05 today at Citizens Bank Park (TV: CSN; radio 94 WIP; replay 11 on TCN), seem to always be looking to cut payroll and might be intrigued by relieving themselves of the $300 million they owe Stanton, who leads MLB with 45 home runs.

Yes, the Phillies are rebuilding, but if you can get a 27-year-old capable of hitting 35 home runs and drive in 100+ runs, you do it.

Although further along in the process, the Phillies were still rebuilding when they signed a 32-year-old Jim Thome for the 2003 season. The Thome signing was as much about showing a change in culture as it was for production from the player. The Phillies wanted to show a legitimate commitment to trying to win.

Trading for Stanton would have some element of that, but Stanton would also be in the prime of his career for six to seven of the remaining 10 years of his contract.

If the Phillies can't build a legitimate contender before 2025 when Stanton would be 35 and owed $86 million with a $25 million club option for 2028, the future is worthless anyway.

Going back to the early 1900s when promoters hyped a "Great White Hope" to beat Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion, boxing has always been guided by sensationalized fight buildup.

But the over-the-top clown show promoting this weekend's "mega-bout" between Floyd Mayweather Jr, who comes out of retirement, and MMA star Conor McGregor, who has never had a professional boxing match, hurts the recent resurgence boxing has made as a mainstream sport.

Boxing has little if anything to gain from Mayweather-McGregor.

Over the last few years, boxing has made gains with the Premiere Boxing Champions series by putting top fighters back on the four major networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC) and their sports-affiliated cable channels as opposed to always being on pay television and pay-per-view.

Tonight at 9 on FS1, top-five-ranked bantamweight Juan Carlos Payano (18-1) headlines a PBC card.

Having hosted 86 of the 117 Army-Navy football games, Philadelphia is the unofficial home of the college football classic. Staff writer Mark Narducci reports that the city has locked up a number of the next games.

Keegan Rosenberry was an MLS All-Star as a rookie for the Union in 2016. This season, he can barely find his way into a match. Staff writer Jonathan Tannenwald tries to explain the mystery behind what happened.

Acquiring cornerback Byron Maxwell and linebacker Kiko Alonso was considered two of the worst moves by Chip Kelly. The pair were traded to Miami last season, and staff writer Les Bowen writes that both have been better as Dolphins.

Adam Gase interviewed with the Eagles for the job that Doug Pederson got. Staff writer Jeff McLane asked the Miami Dolphins head coach what happened with the Birds.

Considering Philadelphia has not seen redshirt No.1 overall draft pick Ben Simmons play in a game against any level of competition since the 2016 NBA Summer League, this will have to do.

Perhaps it's because the rest of the 2017 NBA draft class is still jealous because the Sixers selected Markelle Fultz with the No.1 overall pick, but Thomas Lott of the Sporting News writes that Fultz doesn't get a lot of love in an NBA rookies survey.

Even though it is still more than a season away, the 2018 class of free agents in Major League Baseball is already being viewed as a game-changer for the league's salary structure. USA Today writer Greg Lacques discusses which potential free agents are trending up and which are trending down.

I give NFL Players Association president Eric Winston credit for being honest, but his recent comments about a potential strike or lockout in 2021 do not help things any.

"Honestly, I don't care and I don't think the guys in this locker room care whether [the NFL] is going to be around in 20 years because none of us are going to be playing," Winston, an offensive tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals, said in a radio interview with WCPO. "So if these guys [the owners] want to own for a long time, then they can own for a long time. But another work stoppage might kill the golden goose.

"… I'm not going to be around that long. So if this thing dies out in 20 years, it dies out in 20 years. That's not really my concern, and I don't think it's any of these players' concern in here, either."

Crazy rhetoric is a common theme in contract negotiations, but Winston went further than anyone I've ever heard of.

Baseball
Marlins at Phillies, doubleheader, 4 p.m. (CSN; WIP-FM 94.1, WNPV-AM 1440)
Cubs at Reds, 7 p.m. (MLB Network)
Rangers at Angels, 10 p.m. (ESPN)

Boxing
Juan Carlos Payano vs. Alexis Santiago, bantamweights, 9 p.m. (FS1)

Little League Baseball
World Series, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)

WNBA
Phoenix Mercury at Minnesota Lynx, 8 p.m. (NBA TV)
San Antonio Stars at Los Angeles Sparks, 10:30 p.m. (NBA TV)

Baseball
Phillies vs. Marlins, doubleheader, 4:05 p.m., Citizens Bank Park

Minor League Baseball
Lehigh Valley IronPigs vs. Syracuse Chiefs, 7:05 p.m., Coca-Cola Park, Allentown
Trenton Thunder vs. Portland Sea Dogs, 7:05 p.m., Waterfront Park, Trenton