Report: Giants willing to take on Stanton's entire contract

The San Francisco Giants appear to be one of the front-runners to trade for National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton and they may be the favorite to do so because of one particular reason.

The Giants are willing to take on Stanton's entire contract in a trade, Sirius XM's Craig Mish told Tim McKernan on "The Morning After," which he said makes San Francisco the favorite to land him, with the St. Louis Cardinals in second place.

San Francisco appeared to be emerging as a favorite to land Stanton about a week ago, according to a source of MLB.com's Mark Feinsand, and offering to take on the $295 million remaining on his contract could be the most intriguing offer for a Miami Marlins franchise interested in reducing payroll.

Stanton apparently would not accept a trade to St. Louis in July, according to Mish, but was a maybe on San Francisco. Although Mish said things may have changed, he believes the Giants remain the front-runners despite Stanton's reported first choice actually being one of San Francisco's rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Giants reportedly offered the Marlins a trade package of second baseman Joe Panik, outfield prospect Chris Shaw, and right-hander Tyler Beede in exchange for Stanton and Dee Gordon.

Related: Why the Dodgers have the best chance to land Stanton

The 28-year-old Stanton has been a hot offseason topic with as many as seven teams showing trade interest as of mid-November. The reported interest is of no surprise after the outfielder hit 59 home runs and drove in 132 runs for the Marlins last season, securing his first MVP award and fourth All-Star appearance.