It’s only a matter of time before the Miami Marlins decide to trade starting pitcher Sandy Alcántara this season. Alcántara was the National League Cy Young winner in 2022 before being mediocre in 2023 and missing the 2024 campaign with an elbow injury. This season, he hasn’t looked overwhelmingly incredible, but he’s still shown promise. And his talent is very clearly still there, even if the results are varying at this point. Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller recently predicted it would be the Baltimore Orioles to win the Alcántara sweepstakes this season. “Alcantara looked solid in his first start back from Tommy John Surgery on Opening Day against Pittsburgh,” Miller wrote. “However, after skipping what should have been his third start due to a rain postponement, he has posted a line of 7.2 IP, 9 H, 10 ER, 6 BB and 2 K over his last two appearances. “Zach Eflin, Tomoyuki Sugano and Charlie Morton will all be free agents this winter-if Morton even lasts that long in Baltimore while losing each of his five starts thus far-so the Orioles are definitely in the market for a multi-year solution to a rotation that is already struggling mightily.” The Orioles’ rotation has been destroyed by injuries this season. Pair that with the disastrous start to the season that Charlie Morton has gotten off to, and there might not be a team in baseball that needs pitching more than Baltimore. Baltimore could package a deal centered around outfielder Heston Kjerstad to acquire Alcántara. There aren’t many teams in baseball with as much prospect depth as the Orioles have. Bringing in such a talented pitcher with a few more years of team control would be quite a solid move for the Orioles.
