Marlins hope to sign Stanton to extension by winter meetings

Giancarlo Stanton is under team control for another two seasons, but the Miami Marlins are pursuing the slugger like he's the top free agent available.

Stanton enters his second year of arbitration looking to double his $6.5 million salary from a season ago. He'll land an even bigger raise if the Marlins get their way.

Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill said Sunday that the team would like to have a long-term extension in place by the winter meetings in December.

"That's our goal," Hill told MLB Network Radio. The Marlins executive said the club recently reached out to Stanton's representatives after tabling talks until the offseason.

After a successful 2014 campaign that saw the Marlins contend for a wild-card spot into the final month of the season, Hill is hopeful the club has surrounded Stanton with the type of talent required to entice superstar players.

"He wants to win," Hill said. "We want to build a sustainable winning ballclub and he's a big part of that."

Dollars and cents promise to weigh more heavily in the Marlins' efforts to keep the 24-year-old Stanton in Miami.

Initial baseline comparisons for the All-Star slugger include the Atlanta Braves' Freedie Freeman. 

Buying out Stanton's last two years of arbitration and first several seasons of free agency figures to command a deal in excess of the eight-year, $135 million contract Freeman secured with the Braves last winter.

Stanton won the Hank Aaron Award last week as the top hitter in the National Lague and is expected to receive strong consideration for the NL MVP honor. The Marlins right fielder hit a NL-leading 37 homers before his year was cut short after taking a pitch to the face on Sept. 11.

"I feel great now," Stanton said last week, "and I'll be back to my normal offseason routine and shouldn't skip a beat."