‘He’s Out Guy’: Marlins Should Extend Sandy Alcantara

A case can be made for trading an expiring asset to further deepen the rebuild’s potential. 

Another argument can be made for keeping said asset for both the present and establishing his presence as a franchise legend. 

Sandy Alcantara has been with the Miami Marlins ever since ownership changed hands entering the 2018 season. He has been a key cog in the Marlins' reaching the postseason in 2020 and 2023 and could be a part of a potential run this season. 

“He’s our guy,” Marlins outfielder Kyle Stowers told the Marlins Radio Network after Friday’s game. “When he’s on the mound, we always feel good about our chances that day.”

After an eight-inning, seven-strikeout performance in an 8-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday, Alcantara became the fifth active Dominican-born pitcher to reach 1,000 career strikeouts. Alcantara said after the game he could have reached that milestone sooner had it not been for Tommy John erasing 2024, but regardless, “It means a lot.”

“I'm very grateful and thankful for this organization to give me an opportunity to [be] a starting pitcher here, so now getting 1,000 strikeouts is always a blessing to me,” Alcantara said.

Alcantara’s ninth season with the Marlins was hyped up by the front office to potentially be his best. While a handful of rocky starts have roughed up his ERA, Alcantara leads MLB in innings pitched (97 1/3) and has won his last three outings with a total of seven earned runs, 19 strikeouts in 22 innings pitched.

“We've seen three in a row where he's put together some high-end performances, but really, all year long, the innings he's been able to accumulate and what that does every fifth/sixth day," Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. 

Marlins rookie catcher Joe Mack told MLB.com after the game that outings like this are why Alcantara is nicknamed “El Caballo,” which is Spanish for “The Horse.”

“He's out there pitching his heart out, and he's out there doing as best as he can, learning from every single game,” Mack said. “I've always looked up to him, too, ever since I got drafted, so it was a goal of mine for sure to be his teammate and catch him. It's pretty cool.”

Alcantara is currently the highest-paid player on the Marlins this season, but at $17.3 million, he’s a bargain as veteran aces go. Throughout last season and this season, the final year of his five-year, $55M extension, Alcantara has been the subject of trade rumors. 

These rumors are not unfounded. The Marlins have a track record for trading players as they become more experienced and expensive. There’s a reason as to why there has been a player who has spent 10 years with the Marlins. 

Alcantara could be that tenured star. Should the Marlins accept the $21M team option for 2027, another extension would put him over the decade benchmark.

The Marlins rebuild would not be as accelerated as it currently is without a leader like Alcantara, whom McCullough referred to as a “great ambassador for our organization.”

“He means a ton to this organization, and it's great for a lot of our younger players,”

McCullough said. “They aspire to stay in this league long enough to be able to reach some of the milestones like he has, and he will reach here in the near future.”

The Marlins enter Saturday’s game with a planned bullpen day starting with Lake Bacar, who tossed two scoreless innings with three strikeouts against the Arizona Diamondbacks in his last outing. He previously threw three perfect innings against the Tampa Bay Rays on June 6 in his last “start.” 

The Marlins (35-35) will look to extend their six-game winning streak and their 9-1 start to June. The Fightin’ Fish are also 18-13 in day games. 

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