Sandy Alcantara Reportedly Not Expected to Be Traded by Marlins While 'Value is Down'

Despite having his two best starts of the season in his last two appearances, Sandy Alcántara could end up finishing out the 2025 campaign with the Miami Marlins.

Per The Athletic's Jim Bowden, the Marlins aren't expected to trade the 2022 NL Cy Young winner at a time when his "value is down."

Coming into the season, Alcántara was a very popular trade candidate because of his age (29) and contract. He is signed through next season with a $21 million team option for 2027.

A lot of that trade enthusiasm was contingent on how Alcántara looked on the mound this season after missing all of 2024 due to Tommy John surgery. His results so far have been extremely disappointing with a 7.14 ERA, 31 walks and as many hits allowed as innings pitched (63.0).

There are reasons to think Alcántara can turn things around, at least based on the quality of his arsenal. His average fastball velocity is 97.3 mph and his 50.8 percent groundball rate ranks in the 84th percentile of all pitchers, per Baseball Savant.

ESPN's Jeff Passan noted opposing teams believe they would be able to help Alcántara turn things around, but giving up on a pitcher with his upside when his value is arguably at its lowest point isn't a good bit of business.

The Marlins shouldn't be under any financial pressure to make a move because their payroll is already the lowest in MLB at $67.3 million. Alcántara is the only player on their roster currently making more than $4.5 million.

Alcántara has shown improvement recently with just two runs allowed over 12 innings in his last two starts. Even though those games were against the Colorado Rockies and Pittsburgh Pirates, it's at least encouraging that he only walked one batter in each start.

Since there is still seven weeks before the July 31 trade deadline, if Alcántara continues at his recent pace, it's not unreasonable to think a team would bet on his upside enough to propose a strong offer to the Marlins that would at least entice them into accepting it.

If Alcántara ends up finishing this season with the Marlins, he could become one of the most sought-after trade targets in the offseason when teams are always searching for cost-controlled pitching.