MLB Trade Rumors: Former Cy Young Winner Still Offers Red Sox Upside

Will the Miami Marlins trade former ace Sandy Alcantara before the July 31 deadline? It all depends on whether someone will buy low on the right-hander who’s in the midst of his worst season in the majors.

“Sandy Alcantara, he of the 7.22 ERA, remains a target for teams thanks to the quality of his stuff and paucity of big available names,” ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported Friday. “Some teams see Alcantara’s contract as too big an impediment and complain that the Miami Marlins want too much in return for him. That’s fine. Teams are twitchy. They crave upside.

“With the deadline creeping ever closer, the prospect of a team surveying the starting-pitching landscape and being willing to give up real talent for Alcantara’s upside is tangible. Perhaps Alcantara is packaged with another Marlin to give the acquiring club a modicum of stability amid questions of whether the former NL Cy Young winner can be fixed,” Passan added.

“The Marlins were hoping to bring in a haul of prospect for the former Cy Young winner at the deadline. They never envisioned that he would like a shell of his former self,” USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported Sunday.

“Alcantara is 4-9 with a 7.14 ERA and 1.495 WHIP, and is getting worse. He is yielding an 8.61 ERA in his last four starts, giving up 32 hits in 23 innings with 14 strikeouts and five walks. The Marlins may have no choice now but to hang onto him and shop him again this winter,” Nightengale concluded.

CBS Sports’ R.J. Anderson noted earlier this month the 29-year-old right-hander, who won the National League Cy Young Award in 2022, hasn’t been the same since having Tommy John surgery in 2023.

It’s possible the Boston Red Sox take a swing at Alcantara after losing Hunter Dobbins’ to a season-ending torn ACL and putting Tanner Houck back on the injured list.

According to Spotrac, Alcantara is making $17.3 million this season and will be on the books for the same amount next year. In 2027, he’s slated to make $21 million but the deal includes a club option with a $2 million buyout.

He’s slated to return to the mound Wednesday when the Marlins conclude a three-game series with the San Diego Padres.