The Miami Marlins might be dead in the water before the 2025 MLB season even starts. Not expected to do much this season anyway, they could finish a distant fourth or fifth to the Atlanta Braves, the New York Mets or the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East. Only the Washington Nationals might be as bad or worse as them. So what is new skipper Clayton McCullough to do? He better hope and pray.
In the latter part of spring training, McCullough has seen starting pitcher candidates such as Ryan Weathers, Edward Cabrera and Janson Junk all suffer injuries. These may only be minor things. Weathers has a forearm strain, Cabrera is dealing with a blister, while Junk is working through some back spasms. Again, this might be too premature, but what about the Marlins ace in Sandy Alcantara?
Alcantara missed all of last season after having undergone Tommy John surgery. The two-time All-Star has won an NL Cy Young in a Marlins uniform. While it remains to be seen how he will bounce back from the biggest injury of his career, he is under contract with the Fish this year and next. It would behoove teams such as the Braves and Mets to potentially give up the farm to land Alcantara.
Atlanta may not need pitching as badly as the Mets, but it feels like a round of game theory brewing.
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Sandy Alcantara is begging for the Miami Marlins to trade him this season
Whether it is Atlanta, New York, the Boston Red Sox or whomever, any number of teams may be chomping at the bit to acquire an ace pitcher the caliber of Alcantara at or before the trade deadline. Not only could he help a postseason hopeful get over the top, but he is under contract for the 2026 MLB season as well. This gives the team who acquires him more control, but it would cost them more.
From a competitive standpoint, the Marlins have only made the postseason three times in their not-so-illustrious history. The first two times they did it as the then-Florida Marlins, winning the World Series in both 1997 and 2003. Miami qualified during the COVID season, but more than half of baseball did that season. Keep in mind this franchise has never won the NL East ever in its history...
What I am getting at is Alcantara is a great way for the Marlins to reset it a bit and try again tomorrow. They would be able to get more ahead of this year's deadline than the one coming up in 2026. Again, teams like the Braves, Mets or Red Sox would love to have more than just two months of control. Miami knows this, and will make the best decision for them. Then again, they dumped Luis Arraez...
I highly doubt Alcantara is going to get hurt this season, but players who get hurt will get hurt again.