Early Marlins' Sandy Alcantara Landing Spots Amid MLB Trade Rumors

It's early, but not too early to wonder where Sandy Alcantara might get traded this year.

The 2022 NL Cy Young Award winner has looked fantastic in his first spring training since undergoing Tommy John surgery in October 2023. And since the Miami Marlins are going nowhere after a 100-loss season in the same year, people are already champing at the bit for the team to get its ace to market.

"Teams are already wondering whether Alcantara will be available at the trade deadline," ESPN's Jeff Passan wrote on March 5, "with the Marlins far from contending and his contract running through 2026 with a club option for 2027."

Though Passan also noted the 29-year-old will be on an innings limit, there already appears to be no limit on speculation over where he might land in a trade.

We're about to add to that by speculating on Alcantara's most likely landing spots. But first, we must assess his trade value.

When Alcantara last pitched in a competitive capacity, he was merely OK. That was in 2023, when he posted a 4.14 ERA over 28 starts.

Before that, though, he ripped off a 3.07 ERA in 104 starts for the Marlins between 2019 and 2022. The last of those seasons is one of the great modern displays of pitching, as the righty completed six games in compiling a 2.28 ERA over 228.2 innings.

Whether Alcantara will ever handle that kind of workload again is doubtful, but his stuff seems to be as good as ever. He has yet to allow a run in four spring appearances, with his velocity climbing into the high 90s with regularity.

Alcantara is owed $17.3 million in 2025 and 2026, and then he has a $21 million club option for 2027. That's a $18.5 million average salary over three years, or probably less than half the AAV he'd get in a multi-year deal as a free agent.

Baseball Trade Values estimates his surplus value at $57.2 million. That kind of value is worthy of a haul of young talent, which is what the Marlins will be looking for if they do eventually make him available.

This limits their field of potential trading partners, but we can still touch on a handful of honorable mentions before moving on to destinations and hypothetical trade packages for Alcantara's top five suitors.

Note: Farm system and prospect rankings are by B/R's Joel Reuter, with starting pitching projections courtesy of FanGraphs.

Atlanta Braves

Atlanta's rotation projects better than you might think with an outlook of 16.8 WAR. Yet some skepticism is warranted, as reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale is 36 years old, while Max Fried and Charlie Morton are long gone.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Corbin Burnes and Zac Gallen make for an excellent duo, but there's oodles of uncertainty after them in Arizona's rotation. To boot, Gallen will qualify for free agency after this season.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Another ace is the last thing the Dodgers need...for now. When you remember how hard they were hit by injuries last year, their rotation is perhaps vulnerable until proved otherwise.

Minnesota Twins

The Twins have been short an ace starter ever since Sonny Gray left as a free agent after 2023. Perhaps they'll stay that way, but it also wasn't that long ago that they were poking around Dylan Cease.

San Diego Padres

You can never rule the Padres out on anyone. And while they don't need an ace starter, their desire to keep pace with the Dodgers and upcoming dates with free agency for Cease and Michael King could make them want one.

Texas Rangers

Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi are a heck of a 1-2 punch, but they're also on the old side and it's been a minute since the former lasted a full year. And provided the Rangers are in the race, one can imagine them being willing to pay the luxury tax if it meant getting Alcantara.

Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays are also full-up with starting pitching, but this sure looks like an all-in year. In addition to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, Chris Bassitt and Max Scherzer are also slated for free agency after 2025.

Current Rotation: Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck, Walker Buehler, Quinn Priester, Richard Fitts

Projected SP WAR: 15.0

So strong is the Red Sox's starting pitching on paper that only three teams project to get more WAR in 2025. That would be a welcome departure from last year, when Boston starters were hot early and then cool the rest of the way.

Not all is well, though.

The Red Sox have already run into injury turbulence, with Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford and Lucas Giolito expected to begin the season on the IL. Meanwhile, newcomers Crochet and Buehler are not known for durability.

This is just one reason to keep an eye on Boston as a potential player for Alcantara. The other is that the team has more young bats than it has space for, something the Marlins would probably be all too happy to help with.

Trade Proposal: Boston Red Sox get RHP Sandy Alcantara, Miami Marlins get RF Wilyer Abreu, SS Franklin Arias (Red Sox No. 4, MLB No. 90)

Abreu isn't a "star," per se, but the 25-year-old is a Gold Glove winner with a .842 OPS against right-handers for his two seasons. Put him on the Marlins, and he's arguably their best player.

Arias, 19, is a long way from the majors, but he projects as a quality hitter who plays plus defense at shortstop.

Current Rotation: Shota Imanaga, Justin Steele, Jameson Taillon, Matthew Boyd, Colin Rea

Projected SP WAR: 11.3

As per this Thursday report from Bob Nightengale of USA Today, it is possible the Cubs will have signed Lance Lynn by the time you finish reading this sentence:

All the same, it says something that the Cubs were seeking rotation depth in the first place.

That modest WAR projection gets at how the rotation has a solid front three, but not much to speak of otherwise. Lynn might help that in the short term, but it's very possible the 37-year-old's best role now is as a reliever.

Besides, the Cubs are like the Red Sox in that they have more young hitters than they have room for. "If you can't play 'em, trade 'em" isn't a saying, but it ought to be.

Trade Proposal: Chicago Cubs get RHP Sandy Alcantara, Miami Marlins get RHP Javier Assad, C Moises Ballesteros (Cubs No. 3, MLB No. 41), OF Kevin Alcántara (Cubs No. 6)

Assad is a bit redundant in Chicago, but the 27-year-old is at least usable as a major league pitcher. He even had a 3.73 ERA over 147 innings last year.

The real prizes here are Ballesteros, who projects as a high-average type, and Alcántara, who has power and speed in abundance. Neither has a clear path to playing time in Chicago, but that wouldn't be an issue in Miami.

Current Rotation: Kodai Senga, David Peterson, Clay Holmes, Tylor Megill, Griffin Canning

Projected SP WAR: 11.3

Even after losing Frankie Montas to a lat strain and Sean Manaea to an oblique strain, the Mets were reportedly uninterested in adding pitching.

Well, they should be.

Manaea should be back in April, but it likely won't be until May or June when Montas is back on the mound. In the meantime, the surest thing in their rotation is...Peterson? Senga made one start last year and Holmes is a converted reliever.

It's not an ideal rotation scenario for any team, least of all one with a $330 million payroll and its eyes squarely on a trip to the World Series.

Trade Proposal: New York Mets get RHP Sandy Alcantara, Miami Marlins get RHP Brandon Sproat (Mets No. 1, MLB No. 38), SS Jett Williams (Mets No. 2, MLB No. 53)

If the Mets were to get serious about realizing their World Series dreams, this is the kind of sacrifice they'd have to be ready to make for Alcantara. And, to be sure, it's one that president of baseball operations David Stearns would probably rather not make.

For the Marlins, on the other hand, turning Alcantara into a budding ace and future shortstop would be a major win. And Sproat will be ready sooner rather than later after an impressive year in the minors in 2024.

Current Rotation: Zach Eflin, Charlie Morton, Dean Kremer, Tomoyuki Sugano, Cade Povich

Projected SP WAR: 9.9

In case anyone needs a recap: The Orioles had Corbin Burnes, but then lost him to free agency and replaced him with Morton and Sugano.

Not great, as these things go. And now the situation is worse, as erstwhile top prospect Grayson Rodriguez is set to start the season on the IL with elbow inflammation. And lest anyone think it can't get worse, well...[gestures in the direction of "elbow inflammation"].

Ken Rosenthal and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic reported Monday that the Orioles were "exploring" additions to their pitching staff. With the free-agent market picked clean, they're one of two teams who should be eyeing Alcantara right now.

Besides, the O's remain well stocked with young hitting talent. If anything, it's past time for them to leverage that depth in a trade for a controllable ace.

Trade Proposal: Baltimore Orioles get RHP Sandy Alcantara, Miami Marlins get C Samuel Basallo (Orioles No. 2, MLB No. 13)

For anyone who wants to know what Basallo is all about, here you go:

As hard as it would be for Baltimore to part with that kind of power, Basallo is already looking up at Adley Rutschman and there's room at first base for only one of him and fellow elite prospect Coby Mayo.

Current Rotation: Max Fried, Carlos Rodón, Marcus Stroman, Clarke Schmidt, Will Warren

Projected SP WAR: 12.3

The Yankees are No. 1 on this list because of course they are.

You can't lose Gerrit Cole for the year because of Tommy John surgery and Luis Gil for three months because of a lat strain and act like everything is OK. As Eno Sarris covered for The Athletic, those two injuries have reduced New York's rotation from one of MLB's best to one of its worst.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman knows he needs to do something, but he's not wrong about there being "very little available" right now. He can nonetheless at least try calling about Alcantara, if he hasn't already.

Ultimately, no team has as much of an incentive to swing big as these Yankees. After coming three wins shy of a World Series title in 2024, they're in danger of falling much shorter this year if they don't connect on a such a swing.

Trade Proposal: New York Yankees get RHP Sandy Alcantara, Miami Marlins get RHP Will Warren, OF Spencer Jones (Yankees No. 2, MLB No. 100), SS George Lombard Jr. (Yankees No. 4)

This package has positive momentum in its favor. The spring was a good one for Jones (.996 OPS, 2 HR) and Lombard (.792 OPS, 2 HR) before they were re-assigned to minor league camp, while Warren has looked largely unhittable with 12 strikeouts and four hits allowed in 11.2 innings.

The Marlins could plug in Warren and Jones right away and otherwise wait on Lombard. The 20-year-old is only two years removed from going 26th overall in the 2023 draft, and he seems to be growing into some real power.

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.