MLB Trade Rumors: Top 3 Landing Spots for Sandy Alcantara

His name has been out there on the trade market for a year now, but Sandy Alcantara is still a member of the Miami Marlins. He struggled in his return from Tommy John surgery last year, posting a 5.36 ERA.

But now, another full year removed from the procedure, it's that second season back when pitchers often return to full strength. With the possibility of Alcantara returning to Cy Young form (he won the award in 2022), there will be teams that are more seriously pursuing him this year.

Why don't the Fish just hang on to him? With a $17 million salary this year and a $21 million club option for next year, that's a little out of the Marlins' budget.

With that, let's take a look at three top landing spots for the Marlins' 30-year-old right-hander.

Atlanta Braves

This one makes sense from a number of angles. First of all, the Braves have had a first-hand look over the years at what Alcantara can do, facing him within the NL East Division. Secondly, Atlanta has a number of injury concerns in its starting rotation entering the season. Elbow injuries to Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep took a big chunk out of their staff, while Spencer Strider is not yet proving to be close to his pre-elbow surgery (internal brace procedure) form.

Chicago Cubs

The Cubbies also have some question marks in the rotation. Shota Imanaga suffered a big dip in performance last season after an injury and reduced velocity, among other problematic underlying metrics. Former ace Justin Steele will miss at least the first month of the season recovering from UCL revision surgery last year, and they're relying on a repeat performance from last year's Rookie of the Year runner-up Cade Horton. Unfortunately, he has a 9.53 ERA so far in spring training. They did make a trade for promising youngster Edward Cabrera, but finding one more top-of-the-rotation arm would might be on their shopping list.

San Francisco Giants

The Giants were hoping to add another strong starter this offseason. They have a high-end Logan Webb/Robbie Ray one-two punch, but the rest of their rotation is kind of journeyman-ish, featuring names like Tyler Mahle and Adrian Houser. They can be decent options for the lower end of the rotation, but for a higher-end option, Alcantara would be a nice fit in that pitcher-friendly ballpark.