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Zach Pressnell is a Newsweek contributor based in Columbus, Ohio. His focus is MLB content. He has an extensive knowledge of professional baseball and all things that come with it after working closely with the sport for years. Zach has been with Newsweek since November 2024 and previously worked at FanSided and OnSI. He is a graduate of Bethany College (WV). You can get in touch with Zach by emailing z.pressnell@newsweek.com.
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The Miami Marlins completely gutted their big league roster last season as they looked to speed up their rebuild. Just about every big league player with trade value was dealt away — except for ace Sandy Alcantara, as the righty was still recovering from Tommy John surgery.
With Alcantara healthy now, he’s likely to garner quite a bit of trade attention this season. Miami would be foolish to hold onto him as the team still looks to be multiple years away from contending for a postseason berth.
Bleacher Report’s Zachary Rymer recently listed the Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, and New York Mets as potential suitors for Alcantara.
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“Alcantara peaked as the NL Cy Young Award winner in 2022, pitching 228.2 innings with a 2.28 ERA,” Rymer wrote. “It’s an outlier of sorts, yet this is a pitcher who’s been 30 percent better than average for his whole career. It’s quite the pedigree to live up to, yet Alcantara should be up to it. He’s more than a year removed from his surgery in October 2023.
“And while reiterating that he isn’t looking to trade the righty, Bendix noted that Alcantara has touched 98 mph in a side session. Even if Alcantara is merely the pitcher he was in 2023, when he had a 4.14 ERA, he’ll stand to be a valuable trade chip. If he returns to ace form, that much more so.”
With Alcantara having the ability to pitch like he did in 2022, it would be quite shocking to see Miami deal him to a divisional rival like the Braves or Mets. But if either of these two teams are willing to give up a loaded haul, it’s not out of the realm of possibilities.
Of the three teams listed by Rymer, the Cubs seem to be the most realistic. Chicago could look to land another ace and form a team built on the backs of the starting pitchers.
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