Quest for a ring fueling Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton

TAMPA — Asked Tuesday about his legacy with the Yankees, Giancarlo Stanton said his “story is still being written.”

The Bronx story he authored is already compelling, as he went from disappointing fans early in his injury-riddled, pinstriped tenure to winning their admiration with his playoff exploits and club leadership. Stanton is proof that you can flip the script in baseball’s most demanding market, and he was even able to do it without a championship ring on his finger.

But it’s that finishing touch, the same one that eluded Aaron Judge, Aaron Boone and other prominent Yankees of that era, that serves as the “fuel source,” Stanton said Tuesday.

“Without that, it’s definitely an incomplete story,” he added. “The goal of being a Yankee is to be a champion. So there will always be a blemish without that.”

Fair or not, Stanton is right about the high standards that can be found at One East 161st Street. Neither he nor Judge want to join the ranks of the greatest Yankees to never win a championship, a group led by Don Mattingly.

Luckily for both, there’s still time, although 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, it’s unclear how many opportunities the 2017 National League MVP will have beyond the upcoming campaign.

Stanton came close to achieving his goal in 2024, propelling the Yankees to the playoffs – he was named ALCS MVP – and the World Series. But his exploits could not prevent his hometown Dodgers from winning this final round.

This postseason performance won over any remaining fans on the fence, even if it didn’t secure the hardware Stanton needed.

“I always felt appreciated,” Stanton, who didn’t have the best postseason in 2025, said of his up-and-down relationship with fans. “I mean, there will always be hate and like.

“It’s a results business, a results city. So if you don’t get results, you’re going to assume [you’re] not appreciated, but my job is to get results.

Stanton, who is coming off two good seasons despite dealing with tennis elbow issues during that time, will look to continue getting results in 2026.

He reiterated Tuesday that his elbow issues won’t go away — he’s also suffered a long list of lower-body injuries — but he showed up to camp “ready to go” this year after missing all of spring training and the first few months of the regular season in 2025.

“Like I said before, it’s not going anywhere,” Stanton said of his elbows. “There will always be maintenance, but that didn’t bother me [offseason] work, and that’s the most important thing.

With Stanton’s body still in mind, Aaron Boone said he plans to take his time before getting the designated hitter involved in spring training games. The Yankees will also be proactive in giving Stanton days off during the regular season, an approach the player said has kept him fairly healthy after making 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 defense last season while Judge recovered from a flexor strain. And if that wasn’t enough, the manager even dreamed of the possibility that Stanton, who looked thin at the start of camp, would avoid the injured list for an entire season.

“He evolved in the way he trained, the way he took care of himself, which is what you have to do if you want to have a long career and had some of the injuries that he had to deal with,” Boone said. “You have to evolve, and he does it constantly.

“So yes, I do [think that’s possible]. In a perfect world, he’s healthy all the way.