When the MLB trade deadline rolls around later this summer, Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara will undoubtedly be one of the biggest names on the rumor mill.
The 29-year-old right-hander is coming off of Tommy John surgery that wiped out his entire 2024 season, but the two-time All-Star isn’t all that far from a Cy Young season in 2022, when he recorded a 2.28 ERA over 228.2 innings of work.
Alcantara is under contract through the 2026 season, and the Marlins have a club option for 2027. But with Miami seemingly being nowhere close to contention, it’s fair to assume teams with World Series aspirations will come calling.
Could the Mets be one of them? Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor would certainly be on board.
Speaking with Mike Puma of the New York Post, Soto and Lindor shared their thoughts on the possibility of the Mets going after Alcantara should he become the biggest fish on the market.
“It would be one of the best trades that we could have,” Soto told Puma about potentially reeling Alcantara in. “I know we have great pitching here, but adding a Cy Young winner like that would be huge.”
“If he goes to a team that has a chance to compete at the end, I think you are going to see who he is,” Soto added. “He is doing that on a team that has no serious chance to go to the playoffs, but he keeps trying and competing even without run support. Whenever he goes to a winning team you are going to see what Sandy Alcantara is capable of.”
And if you ask Lindor, the Mets adding Alcantara would feel similar to when the Mets signed another star this past offseason.
“It would almost be like adding Soto,” Lindor said. “You add Soto, it’s going to help the team. You add Alcantara and it’s going to help the team.”
Alcantara allowed two earned runs on three hits over his 5.0 innings on Tuesday night, as the Marlins downed the Mets, 4-2. In two starts this season, Alcantara has pitched to a 3.72 ERA with 11 strikeouts in 9.2 innings, showing signs of being the pitcher he was prior to Tommy John.
As Soto told Puma, “It’s going to take a lot to get him,” but with the Mets already dealing with injuries in the starting rotation to Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas, a stocked farm system at their disposal, and an owner in Steve Cohen who wants to win as soon as possible, the thought of Alcantara pitching it Queens doesn’t sound all that fishy after all.
