The Miami Marlins were expected to trade away their ace, Sandy Alcántara, at the trade deadline. Teams like the Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, and New York Yankees were reportedly involved.
But the Marlins held onto him.
However, this could be short-lived. One of these contending clubs could land Alcántara in the offseason.
FanSided’s Christopher Kline recently predicted the Marlins would finally trade Alcántara in an offseason trade after the shocking decision to hold onto him at the deadline.
“Sandy Alcántara has strung together back-to-back scoreless outings after a rocky few months on the bump. His return from Tommy John surgery has been anything but smooth, but there are only so many 29-year-old Cy Young winners floating around the trade rumor mill,” Kline wrote. “If the righty can put together a strong second half of the campaign, his trade value will skyrocket. Him staying put does not read as faith or long-term investment from the organization — it reads as the Marlins expecting better offers in a few months.
“Alcántara’s 6.36 ERA and 1.42 WHIP won’t win him any awards, but he has allowed zero earned runs on seven hits, with eight strikeouts, over his last 12.0 innings. Baby steps. Miami is always selling and Alcántara’s inconsistency means keeping him around next season is a gamble the front office won’t take.”
Holding onto Alcántara might have been the best decision for the Marlins to make. This gives him a few more months to make a few solid starts, which would rebuild his trade value.
That would allow the Cubs, Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, and others to get into a bidding war in the offseason for the talented righty.
Trading him at the deadline could have worked, but it seems obvious that he’s going to be moved in the offseason now.
More MLB: No Sandy Alcántara Trade? Why Marlins’ Bold Decision Makes Sense
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