Ranking three Miami Marlins starting pitchers who fit the Blue Jays

Sandy Alcantara

The only reason this guy is not number one on the list is that he just signed an extension with the Marlins so I’m not sure if they’re willing to trade him. But if the Marlins are at all willing to deal Sandy Alcantara, Ross Atkins needs to get on the phone and not hang up until a trade is completed.

Alcantara has everything you can want in a starting pitcher. He throws incredibly hard and has outstanding off-speed stuff. Most importantly, he’s shown an ability to stay healthy, strikes out a ton, doesn’t walk many, and keeps the ball in the ballpark.

This past season was Alcantara’s best by far. He went 9-15 with a 3.19 ERA. He struck out 201 batters in 205.2 innings pitched in his 33 starts.

The Blue Jays are in need of another arm and the Marlins are a team with a bunch of quality young arms to offer. This is how I’d rank them.

The 33 starts were tied for the National League lead (with Gausman) and the 205.2 innings pitched were good enough for fourth. He averaged 6.2 innings per start which is a really solid number nowadays.

Alcantara allowed just 0.9 HR/9, walked 2.2/9 and struck out 8.8/9. He’s a 26-year-old who just keeps getting better as he ages. In 2019 he made 32 starts and threw 197.1 innings.

With the addition of Alcantara, the Blue Jays would have a really solid top three in their rotation and if Manoah pitches as well as he did this season, the team becomes even scarier. That’s not even including Ryu and his experience pitching in big games.

The cost would be a ton, but to get a young arm who has five years and $52.5 million dollars guaranteed on his deal, who is already this good, would be so valuable for this young team to build around. At the peak of the guaranteed portion of his deal, Alcantara will be making $17 million a year.

Steven Matz got $11 million AAV on his deal despite being a mid-back end rotation arm. Alcantara is a front-end arm with ace potential making pretty much the same per year compared to Matz. If available, he’s absolutely a must-get.