There are lots of teams who need someone like Sandy Alcantara, assuming the ace can get back to the form that won him a Cy Young Award three years ago.
After missing the entire 2024 season due to Tommy John surgery, Alcantara hasn’t yet hit the ground running in his return. He’s given up 17 earned runs in only 23 1/3 innings (6.56 ERA) while also totaling only 17 strikeouts.
If Alcantara can put together a solid month or two before the July trade deadline, though, he’ll have teams crawling over themselves to put together prospect packages to acquire him for two and a half years. Will the Chicago Cubs be one of those teams?
After losing lefty starter Justin Steele for the season to Tommy John, the Cubs are at least one arm short of building a formidable playoff rotation. That’s caused one baseball writer to create a hypothetical trade package to land the Marlins ace.
On Thursday, Newsweek’s Zach Pressnell proposed that the Cubs could nab Alcantara for right-handed pitcher Cade Horton, catcher/first baseman Moisés Ballesteros, outfielder Kevin Alcántara, and right-handed pitcher Jaxon Wiggins.
“The Cubs need to add a starting pitcher following Justin Steele’s season-ending elbow surgery. Alcántara would fill in as the Cubs’ ace alongside Shota Imanaga and company. Though Alcántara hasn’t been elite this season, he has a few years of affordable team control and the potential to return to being an ace,” Pressnell wrote.
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“The return the Cubs would send would be massive. Horton is a future ace with the potential to land in the Marlins’ rotation right now. Ballesteros is a future impact bat while Kevin Alcántara has the potential to be a star, too.”
As trade returns go, this one would be about as massive as it gets. The Boston Red Sox sent a similar package to the Chicago White Sox for Garrett Crochet: four top prospects who profile as big-league contributors in the near future.
It would be a huge swing on the Cubs’ part to go after Alcantara to boost the rotation. But it’s a high-stakes year, so it could be the move that suits the moment.
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