Insider Delivers Head-Turning Trade Update on Marlins Star Pitcher

The general expectation for quite some time has been that the Miami Marlins will trade star pitcher Sandy Alcantara at the MLB trade deadline, even amid his struggles in his return from Tommy John surgery.

Those whispers grew even louder in recent days, as Alcantara has put together back-to-back impressive starts that has some thinking that the former Cy Young award winner may be rediscovering his mojo.

However, MLB insider Robert Murray has provided a rather pertinent update on trade discussions involving Alcantara, noting that the Marlins — a typically aggressive franchise when it comes to moving star players — may simply choose to hold on to him. At least for now.

"I would not be surprised whatsoever if the Marlins held on to him and tried to wait for the offseason or even maybe next trade deadline to try to trade him," Murray said on Foul Territory. "My guess is Sandy stays."

Alcantara has pitched to the tune of a jarring 7.14 ERA this season, allowing 63 hits while registering 50 strikeouts over 63 innings of work. However, he went six innings in each of his last two outings, which included six shutout innings to go along with six punchouts in a Marlins win over the Colorado Rockies earlier this week.

The 29-year-old has proven to be one of the best pitchers in baseball when healthy, so Miami is surely going to want to reap quite a haul in return if it decides to move him.

Alcantara is under team control through, where the Marlins hold a club option on him. Taking that into consideration, Miami does not have to be in any rush to trade the right-hander.

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