It basically comes down to which hypothetical lineup would you rather have? C Schwarber 1B Rizzo 2B Baez/Castro/Russell 3B Bryant SS Baez/Castro/Russell LF Soler CF Alcantara RF Stanton (assuming one of Baez/Russell/Castro is used as centepriece for Stanton deal) or C Schwarber 1B Rizzo 2B Baez 3B Castro SS Russell LF Bryant CF Alcantara RF Soler (assuming the projected positional changes occur) If you're going off promise and future projection, the difference might end up being negligible down the line, but for the immediate future the team is way better with Stanton than without him, even with the missing uber prospect that was dealt to get him. Baez and Russell may wind up being 5+ or 6+ win beasts in the future, but Stanton is that right now. If you can acquire that for pieces that have yet to play a full season in the majors, maybe you should.