Trade Market For Ex-Cardinals Ace 'Picking Up Drastically'

Trade buzz is growing around a former St. Louis Cardinals ace.

It has been a relatively quiet Major League Baseball trade deadline thus far, but most analysts agree that Wednesday and Thursday will bring a flurry of moves.

According to The Athletic’s MLB insider Jim Bowden, one of those moves may very well involve 29-year-old starting pitcher Sandy Alcántara of the Miami Marlins. After beginning his career in St. Louis, Alcántara rose to stardom in Miami and won the National League Cy Young Award in 2022. Tommy John surgery in October 2023 caused Alcántara to miss all of last season.

Alcántara has been working his way back into form this season for the Marlins. He started the year with clear rust but has steadily improved. Entering Tuesday, Alcántara was 5-9 on the year with a 6.66 ERA, a 1.43 WHIP, and 77 strikeouts in 104 innings.

Early on Tuesday, Bowden released a trade deadline report indicating that the Marlins were leaning towards hanging onto Alcántara past the July 31 deadline.

“The Marlins are said to believe that Alcantara will eventually return to his prior standout form, so they are still putting a steep prospect price on him; if it’s not met, they could keep the 2022 NL Cy Young Award winner and trade him in the offseason or at next year’s trade deadline,” Bowden wrote.

However, later in the day, Bowden provided an update on Alcántara to X.

“The Sandy Alcantara market is picking up drastically and now looks like there is a real chance he gets traded by Thursday according to industry sources,” Bowden posted.

If Miami’s price for Alcántara is indeed steep, it sounds like multiple suitors have expressed a desire to pay it.