Washington Nationals Land Former Cy Young Award Winner in Proposed Trade
The Washington Nationals are heading into the offseason looking to improve as they hope their lengthy rebuild is coming to a close.
In 2024, the Nationals matched their win total from 2023, but the team featured a lot of young stars who appear like they will be the core for Washington for years to come.
While it was great to see a lot of the young talent they have been acquiring over the past few years come up and make an impact, there is still a lot of work to be done for the Nationals.
This offseason, two of the main priorities for the team are likely to attempt to find a power hitter for the middle of the order and a top-end starting pitcher.
Washington could look to acquire these needs either in free agency or via trade. Recently, Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report proposed a trade that would send Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcántara to the Nationals in exchange for some prospects.
“The Trade: Miami Marlins send RHP Sandy Alcántara to Washington Nationals for OF Robert Hassell III and RHP Jarlin Susana. If the names of those prospects sound vaguely familiar for some reason, it's because they were part of what the San Diego Padres sent the Nationals in the Juan Soto/Josh Bell trade three summers ago. Three of the pieces of that deal—MacKenzie Gore, James Wood and CJ Abrams—have become key reasons why it feels like the Nats might be about ready to come out on the other side of what has been a bit of a lengthy rebuild.”
The right-hander is coming off Tommy John surgery, which cost him all of 2024, but is expected to be ready to go for the start of the 2025 season. As a former Cy Young award winner, and at just 29-years-old, there is a lot to like about Alcántara.
Contract wise, the Nationals would have control for the next three seasons, as he has a club option in 2027 for $21 million. For a pitcher the caliber of Alcántara, that is a very good price point if he comes back healthy from surgery.
With Patrick Corbin coming off the books this offseason, allocating some of that money to a pitcher makes a lot of sense. The Marlins ace would actually be cheaper than what the Nationals have been paying Corbin, and he would likely be a lot more productive.
While moving some of their prospects might not be in their vision for the offseason, acquiring a pitcher like Alcántara would make them a much better team for the next couple of years.
