Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- A veteran starting pitcher continues to field constant trade speculation despite his public focus on the current season.
- His team sees a realistic postseason path this year and values his performance and affordable contract too highly to move him without a major return.
- The MLB trade deadline looms in three weeks, keeping his name in daily rumors while he prepares for his next start as scheduled.
In a baseball age in which everything on the field is counted and quantified, there's one more statistic needs to be tracked. Perhaps it could be called the Trade Rumor Ratio, which would determine how frequently a player’s name is mentioned both over the offseason and leading up to the trade deadline.
The educated guess here is that Miami Marlins right-hander Sandy Alcantara would be at the top of the leaderboard. The combination of Alcantara being a workhorse, having a reasonable contract and playing for a franchise that seems to be perpetually rebuilding always makes the 30-year-old a prime trade candidate. His name has been bandied about in rumors seemingly forever.
The affable Alcantara has been asked about the possibility of being traded so many times over the years that he has developed a stock answer, even though he knows the questions won’t stop until the MLB deadline on Aug. 3.
“To me, it doesn’t matter,” Alcantara said of the constant speculation about his future. “I’m here, and I’m playing for the Marlins, so if they make a move with me, I’ve got to respect the decision. When you play in the big leagues, people are always going to talk about what might happen to you. Right now, I’m playing for the Marlins, and I’m happy here.”
Why would Marlins trade Sandy Alcantara?
Alcantara is a proven quality starting pitcher who is annually among the league leaders in innings pitched. In his last five full MLB seasons — excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign and the 2024 season he missed while recovering from Tommy John surgery — the righty has logged at least 174.1 innings each year.
Alcantara is already up to 97.1 innings this season, which is second in the big leagues behind only the 99 thrown by Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Christopher Sanchez.
“My goal every time I pitch is to go all nine innings,” Alcantara said. “I think it is important to get as deep into the game as possible to try to save the bullpen from pitching too many innings. And I love to pitch. I want to be out there as long as I can”
Unlike last year, though, Alcantara is also pitching effectively. He is 6-4 with a 4.25 ERA this season, and he's been outstanding in June, winning all three starts with a 2.86 ERA.
“We really started seeing Sandy’s arm come back from his surgery in the latter part of 2025,” second-year Marlins manager Clayton McCullough. “He’s pitching as well as we’ve seen him over these last three starts.”
Why Marlins might keep Sandy Alcantara
After Miami struggled in the month of May, it seemed like Alcantara's time with the team was finally nearing an end. But with a 10-4 record so far in June, the Marlins think they can make the postseason this year after staying in contention to the final week last season.
At 36-38, the Marlins enter Wednesday in fourth place in the NL East, 11.5 games behind the division-leading Atlanta Braves. However, they're just three games out of the third Wild Card spot, and have an intriguing lineup that doesn’t feature a single regular over the age of 27.
Miami's chances of playing in October would lessen without Alcantara at the top of the rotation. He is also affordable, even by the low-budget Marlins standards, with a $21 million team option for next season that comes with a $2 million buyout.
“I think there is a perception that we have to trade Sandy because of money,” a Marlins person said. “The only way we’re going to trade Sandy is if we get a lot back in return. We’re not going to give him away, especially where the goal is to play in October.”
Nevertheless, expect Alcantara’s name to be in trade rumors on a near-daily basis between now and Aug 3.
“Good players are going to get brought up in those types of discussions, and I think that's fun banter for media and the fans this time of year,” McCullough said. “With Sandy being as talented as he is, and everyone always looking for starting pitching, his name is automatically going to be called up. Sandy has dealt with this long enough that it’s not going to affect him or the way he pitches. He handles it like he does everything else, with professionalism.”{
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