Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara has fans in Miami and around the MLB scrambling to decipher a cryptic tweet many hope signals a potential move.
Reigning NL Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara signed a five-year contract with the Marlins after the 2021 season but the state of the franchise makes it look likely he won’t see out that deal in Miami.
He’s too valuable a trade asset for the Marlins to ignore and he’s too good of a pitcher not to eventually push to play ball somewhere competitive.
That’s why Twitter went wild over a tweet of Alcantara’s on Friday, even if it said very little at all.
The tweet? A single hourglass emoji.
⏳
— Sandy Alcantara (@sandyalcantar22) December 16, 2022
What does that hourglass mean? Is Alcantara counting down to a big move? Is he putting the Marlins on notice?
Twitter speculation was rampant with fans from just about every team suggesting he’d be theirs soon enough.
Fans around the league think Sandy Alcantara is heading their way
https://t.co/bQblNQnJVg pic.twitter.com/B9EzcivCS8
— Clint Barnett (@Barnie10CB) December 16, 2022
Sandy Alcantara, come to the Phillies https://t.co/CRp4Tu2kfH
— Frank (@frankbball2) December 16, 2022
Sandy Alcantara, you are a New York Met https://t.co/be6wacAyrE
— Matthew Wilford (@MattWilford2002) December 16, 2022
Future Dodger? https://t.co/cbK0cn5jHI
— Broken Engineer 🇲🇽🇪🇸 (@Perez_1619) December 16, 2022
welcome to the bronx sandy https://t.co/vlXbEYUHvA pic.twitter.com/31hjybbYjs
— frankie (@NOTORlOUSONE) December 16, 2022
Sandy to the @CleGuardians https://t.co/NkqnH2bW8X pic.twitter.com/5NozC05EGk
— George Piccirilli (@Gpiccirilli27) December 16, 2022
Mets are interested. https://t.co/81SzNWLQnR
— Pete Hoffman (@HoffWFAN) December 16, 2022
Sandy request a trade to come to Boston Pls https://t.co/tY77U554aa
— Rob Anglin (@fadelinez_) December 16, 2022
Cubs should get https://t.co/uMRpgZoWCU
— Teej (@SCteej) December 16, 2022
Angel https://t.co/P0ar6u4eqJ pic.twitter.com/9NAi8vOM3h
— Minji Jihyo Fletcher 🍯 (@TWICEKarma) December 16, 2022
Padres pic.twitter.com/zaKKZizk80
— gustavo (@gesf17) December 16, 2022
You know what to do king pic.twitter.com/O11iMEwkT2
— Matt Pasco (@mpasco26) December 16, 2022
Sandy. YOU ARE A TORONTO BLUE JAY
— Boston Pizza Enjoyer (@dugongpotato1) December 16, 2022
Sandy: Time to come to SD. pic.twitter.com/tOqYfJlcxF
— Padres2HeroicsWanted (@FriarLounge) December 16, 2022
Alcantara made his way to Miami from St. Louis via the 2017 trade for Marcell Ozuna. The Cardinals may now be ruing including him in that trade package because he’s gone on to become one of the top young arms in the league. He was an All-Star in 2019 despite leading MLB in losses. He also led the league in shutouts and maintained an impressive 3.88 ERA given the circumstances.
This past season he took his game to the next level. For the first time in his career, he turned his 2.28 ERA into a winning record of 14-9. He pitched six complete games and had one shutout.
The 27-year-old would be a popular trade target if the Marlins made it clear they were open to that idea. For now, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports the team is willing to listen on anyone except Alcantara.