*Photo from Marlin Maniac*
After trading for gold glove catcher Jacob Stallings to help the pitching staff, the Miami Marlins turned their attention to rewarding a member of said pitching staff. The Marlins and RHP Sandy Alcantara have agreed to a 5 year, $56 million extension, according to Craig Mish of SportsGrid. The Marlins have confirmed the deal.
The 5 year length and $56 million value for Alcantara is the largest for a first year arbitration eligible player in baseball history, and the longest extension given to a Marlin under the new ownership group. There is also a team option for the 2027 season in Alcantara's contract, and he gets a $1.5 million signing bonus.
Marlins GM Kim Ng said of Alcantara that "As I looked at the club from Spring Training on, it really crystallized to me that Sandy was that quintessential ace of the staff. I think in terms of building our foundation, Sandy possesses all the things that we look for in players between talent, performance, leadership in the clubhouse, dedication, work ethic, and I think a singularity and focus in bringing all of himself to the ballpark every single day and imparting his wisdom and his knowledge and really setting an example for the rest of our club."
When the current owners took over the Marlins in 2017, they had begun a rebuild, and Alcantara is one of the biggest rewards of that. When Marcell Ozuna was traded to the Cardinals, Alcantara, Zac Gallen, Dan Castano, and Magneuris Sierra came back to the Marlins. Gallen was later traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks, which gave the Marlins Jazz Chisholm in return.
Last season with the Marlins, Alcantara performed well, posted a 9-15 record with a 3.15 ERA and 1.07 WHIP, striking out 201 hitters and throwing one complete game in 33 starts, totaling 205 2/3 innings pitched for the Marlins last year.
In 5 big league seasons, 4 with the Marlins, Alcantara has a 20-34 record with a 1.21 WHIP and 3.49 ERA, throwing 487 1/3 innings in 78 starts and 8 relief appearances. Alcantara started game one of the wild card game and game one of the NLDS in 2020, allowing 6 earned runs in 12 2/3 innings across both starts combined.
Since 2019, Alcantara's breakout season, he has been one of the better pitchers in baseball. He made the all star game in that 2019 season, and is high on the leaderboards in a few other categories. His two shutouts are tied for 3rd in baseball since 2019, his 3 complete games are tied for 6th, his 445 innings are good for 8th place, he's 16th in starts with 72, and is 22nd in batting average against, with a .231 clip.
Alcantara said of signing an extension that "I've been here for a couple years. see everything the Marlins been doing coming true. I know everything they do. I love the city so much. I know we can win one day. I said it last year, but we didn't make it, but we've got more opportunities to keep competing to win the game and win a World Series."
Now that he's locked up for 5 seasons, Alcantara will continue to headline a young but talented Marlins rotation that includes Pablo Lopez, Trevor Rogers, and Elieser Hernandez, with prospects Jesus Luzardo, Sixto Sanchez, and Edward Cabrera also in the mix for rotation spots.
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