Padres Predicted to Acquire $56M Cy Young Winner in Blockbuster Trade

May 2, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA;  Miami Marlins right fielder Jesús Sánchez, center, celebrates the game-winning hit in the tenth inning against the Colorado Rockies at loanDepot Park with Sandy Alcantara, left, and Miami Marlins center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. (2). Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
May 2, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Marlins right fielder Jesús Sánchez, center, celebrates the game-winning hit in the tenth inning against the Colorado Rockies at loanDepot Park with Sandy Alcantara, left, and Miami Marlins center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. (2). Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images / Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
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It's way too early to predict a blockbuster trade for the 2025 trade deadline but one Major League Baseball insider has managed to make one.

Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report put together a list of potential deals and included the San Diego Padres acquiring starting pitcher Sandy Alcántara from the Miami Marlins.

Alcántara is recovering from Tommy John surgery, which he underwent in October 2023. He is expected to be fully ready by the time Opening Day 2025 arrives.

"So while the Marlins apparently informed Alcántara last summer that they would hold onto him this winter, there's no reason to believe that president of baseball operations Peter Bendix won't try to strike the second that the former NL Cy Young Award winner's trade value returns," Kelly wrote.

More news: Padres Could Land Vladimir Guerrero Jr in Shocking Blockbuster Trade

While it remains to be seen whether Alcántara will return to being a 200-plus inning pitcher this season, he has consistently proven himself as a workhorse. At just 29 years old, the two-time All-Star is under a team-friendly contract that will pay him $34.6 million over the next two years, with a reasonable $21 million club option for 2027.

"That controllability at a relatively team-friendly price will open up Alcántara to more than just the usual suspects if the Fish choose to trade him this summer," Kelly added. "Of course, the usual subjects will also be there, and trading for Alcántara feels like such an A.J. Preller move. If Dylan Cease is traded this spring, Alcántara would replace his presence in the rotation. Even if Cease is retained for his contract year, adding Alcántara would give the Padres an ace in their rotation beyond 2025, assuming Cease leaves in free agency after the season.

"What could also transpire is that the Padres trade for Alcántara, keep him through the 2026 season and then after picking up his $21 million option for 2027, they shop him in advance of what would be his contract year. That seems to be the blueprint that Preller follows."

Between 2018 and 2022, Alcántara posted a 34-43 record with a 3.09 ERA, 1.135 WHIP, 8.0 strikeouts per nine innings, and a 16.9 WAR. His performance dipped in 2024, going 7-12 with a 4.14 ERA, 1.213 WHIP, 7.4 strikeouts per nine innings, and a 3.4 WAR, but he still led MLB with three complete games that year.

Alcántara joined Miami's rotation in September 2018, and aside from a one-month absence in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, he remained healthy through his elbow surgery five years later. From 2019 to 2023, his 858.1 innings pitched led the National League, and his 12 complete games were double that of any other MLB pitcher in that span.

More news: Padres Linked to $7M Former Top Prospect Pitcher in Free Agency


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Maren Angus-Coombs
MAREN ANGUS-COOMBS

Maren Angus-Coombs was born in Los Angeles and raised in Nashville, Tenn. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and has been a sports writer since 2008. Despite being raised in the South, her sports obsession has always been in Los Angeles. She is currently a staff writer for the LA Sports Report Network.