Miami Marlins starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara. (Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports)
Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara has fans in Miami and around the MLB scrambling to decipher a cryptic tweet many hope signals a potential move.
Reigning NL Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara signed a five-year contract with the Marlins after the 2021 season but the state of the franchise makes it look likely he won’t see out that deal in Miami.
He’s too valuable a trade asset for the Marlins to ignore and he’s too good of a pitcher not to eventually push to play ball somewhere competitive.
That’s why Twitter went wild over a tweet of Alcantara’s on Friday, even if it said very little at all.
The tweet? A single hourglass emoji.
What does that hourglass mean? Is Alcantara counting down to a big move? Is he putting the Marlins on notice?
Twitter speculation was rampant with fans from just about every team suggesting he’d be theirs soon enough.
Fans around the league think Sandy Alcantara is heading their way
Alcantara made his way to Miami from St. Louis via the 2017 trade for Marcell Ozuna. The Cardinals may now be ruing including him in that trade package because he’s gone on to become one of the top young arms in the league. He was an All-Star in 2019 despite leading MLB in losses. He also led the league in shutouts and maintained an impressive 3.88 ERA given the circumstances.
This past season he took his game to the next level. For the first time in his career, he turned his 2.28 ERA into a winning record of 14-9. He pitched six complete games and had one shutout.
The 27-year-old would be a popular trade target if the Marlins made it clear they were open to that idea. For now, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports the team is willing to listen on anyone except Alcantara.