On a humid Sunday in Miami, with the stands half-full and the team 12 games under .500, Miami Marlins ace trudged off the mound after surrendering another crooked number to the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was his fifth earned run of the day, and the frustration wasn’t just written on his face—it echoed in the silence of a fanbase that once roared for him with Cy Young chants. This wasn’t the same Sandy Alcantara. And more importantly, this wasn’t the same Marlins team.
Alcantara, once the heart and hope of Miami’s rotation, now wears the weight of a troubling 8.40 ERA over just 31 innings. He’s not even qualified for league leaderboards—a staggering reality for a man who once led the NL in innings and swagger. The numbers are brutal, but the bigger storm brewing isn’t on the field. It’s in the front office.
Former Marlins president David Samson didn’t mince words in a recent episode of the Nothing Personal with David Samson podcast. “It is irresponsible not to trade Sandy Alcantara,” he warned. But then, almost in the same breath, he dropped the hammer: “We believe in him as a player and performer, and we cannot afford to trade him at the low.” That’s not a contradiction—it’s a collision of logic and economics.
See, Alcantara is still owed $17 million next year, with another $2 million guaranteed in 2027. That’s $19 million locked into a struggling asset on a team veering into a reset—whether they call it a rebuild, retool, or just a mess. The Marlins don’t want to sell low, but they also can’t carry his salary much longer without bleeding money. Samson believes that keeping Alcantara past July 1 means eating another $8.5 million. For a club desperate to slash costs, that’s a gut punch.
Think about it, how often does a team get a Cy Young winner under contract through his prime, only to consider dumping him mid-collapse? That’s the dilemma in Miami. Keep him and pray for a turnaround? Or sell low and hope fans understand? Either way, the pressure’s on. The numbers are ugly, the clock is ticking, and the Marlins are running out of middle ground.
And just maybe, so is Alcantara.
Marlins’ Peter Bendix stands firm amid trade rumors
While fans and pundits circle like sharks at the sight of Alcantara’s inflated ERA, Peter Bendix isn’t biting. The Marlins’ President of Baseball Operations isn’t panicking—and he isn’t picking up the phone either. In an era where front offices move fast and patience runs thin, Bendix is preaching the opposite. His message? This is not the time to sell low on a Cy Young winner. “Honestly, it’s all been pretty positive,” he said, brushing aside the alarm bells. “He’s been hit around. That’s unusual for him… but the stuff is there.”
It’s a bold stance considering Alcantara’s 2025 numbers have been anything but comforting. He earned 24 runs in six starts. It’s a kind of stat line that invites speculation, especially for a team staring at a reset. But Bendix didn’t flinch. He pointed to the righty’s velocity, physical health, and mental makeup as evidence that this is just turbulence on the runway, not a sign the plane’s going down. “We’ve seen this with other players… they don’t always get command all the way back right away,” Bendix said, urging patience over panic.
After missing 18 months due to Tommy John surgery, Alcantara is still regaining his command and stamina, a process that often takes time for elite pitchers. He recently delivered his first quality start in a long time, going seven runs on seven hits. That certainly showed flashes of his old self. For now, the Marlins are choosing conviction over convenience. Whether that proves brilliant or costly, only time, and Sandy’s next few starts will tell.
The post “Cannot Afford to Trade Him” – Marlins Hit With Stern Warning on $56M Cy Young Ace as Alarming Stat Persists appeared first on EssentiallySports.