Maybe the Boston Red Sox are satisfied with their starting rotation now. By July, that could absolutely change.
Feb 17, 2024; Jupiter, FL, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara (22) practices during a spring training workout at the Marlins Player Development & Scouting Complex. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Boston has six starters it can feel fairly confident will succeed this season thanks to new additions Garrett Crochet and Walker Buehler. Plus, Patrick Sandoval should be ready to contribute by late July. It's become one of the strengths of the team, which is a rare feeling for the Red Sox nowadays.
However, all one has to do is look at last season's World Series champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, to see that rotation depth can always go away in a flash. And the Dodgers rebounded, trading for Jack Flaherty at the deadline to ensure their rotation would stay afloat.
Couldn't the Red Sox do something similar at this season's deadline, or even slightly before? With Buehler and Lucas Giolito headed to free agency, they also might look to trade for a starter with more seasons of control at some point.
On Wednesday, Cristian Crespo of Just Baseball linked the Red Sox as a trade fit for Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara, the 2022 National League Cy Young Award winner who is set to return from missing the entire 2024 season due to Tommy John surgery.
"Alcantara is arguably (Miami's) biggest trade chip, and one that is worth gambling on. If he returns to Cy Young form, the Marlins could ask for a king’s ransom for Alcantara at the deadline," Crespo wrote.
"Once Sandy is made “publicly” available, I would expect organizations like... (the) Boston Red Sox to be on the long list of teams looking to acquire the services of the former Cy Young Award winner."
In 2021 and 2022, the 29-year-old Alcantara completed the rare feat of throwing 200 innings, leading Major League Baseball with a whopping 228 2/3 the latter year. He also threw a remarkable six complete games in his Cy Young season, to accompany a 2.28 ERA.
Alcantara is entering year four of a five-year, $56 million contract that will pay him $17.3 million in each of the next two seasons. He also has a $21 million club option in 2027, so if they traded for him now, Boston could effectively get him for that same $56 million mark, but over three years.
If Alcantara rebounds to ace form, any team would be glad to trade for him. The question is whether the Red Sox or any other team is willing to jump the line at the trade deadline and try to make a deal happen before he dominates again and raise his price tag.
