Miami Marlins starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara entered the 2025 season viewed as one of the top MLB trade candidates this summer. Amid a career-worst start to his campaign, it appears the Marlins might be reconsidering a trade.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote that an Alcantara trade ‘looks iffy now’ with the former Cy Young Award winner struggling this season. As a result, Miami could keep him this summer and try to move him next offseason when his value might rebound.
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- Sandy Alcantara stats (ESPN): 8.42 ERA 1.61 WHIP, 2-4 record, .811 OPS allowed in 31 innings
Alcantara, age 29, won the NL Cy Young Award in 2022 and earned his second All-Star selection that season. He performed like one of the best pitchers in baseball from 2020-’22, recording a 2.74 ERA and 1.04 WHIP across 476.1 innings pitched. He’s never recaptured that form since.
The 6-foot-5 righty saw his ERA climb to 4.14 with a 1.21 WHIP in his last full season, all with career-worsts in strikeout rate (7/4 K/9) and ERA+ (113) since landing in Miami. He then landed on the injured list in September 2023 with a right forearm flexor strain, later revealed to be a UCL tear that required Tommy John surgery.
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- Sandy Alcantara contract (Spotrac): $17.3 million salary in 2025, $17.3M salary in 2026, $21 million club option for 2027
In his first season back from TJS, Alcantara’s strikeout rate has plummeted to a career-low 16.2 percent with a personal-worst 12.7 percent walk rate. In addition, opponents are hitting over .250 against him (.258) for the first time in his major-league career.
Miami certainly doesn’t have to move him this summer if he can’t turn things around. He’s still under contract for the 2026 season with an additional 2027 club option that is well below the average salary for front-line starting pitchers. However, it is evident that the Marlins likely missed their window to trade him at peak value.
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