Marlins keep Alcantara and Cabrera, deal Sanchez. Insight into their thinking

Miami Herald

5 days ago

The Marlins, who have won 11 of their past 12 series and climbed within three games of .500, opted to hang onto their best players before Thursday's Major League Baseball trade deadline.
Miami, which went 15-10 in July and stands third in the National League at 52-55, kept pitchers Sandy Alcantara and Edward Cabrera, who attracted considerable interest from other teams.
The Marlins also kept together a bullpen that has been generally effective, including Anthony Bender, Calvin Faucher and Ronny Henriquez.
According to a source, the Marlins kept Alcantara and Cabrera because they wanted to take a disciplined approach to this trade deadline and also because no team met an extremely high asking price for either player. The Marlins' strong play in recent weeks also contributed to the decision to keep those two players, pitcher Cal Quantrill and the entire bullpen.
The Marlins made only one trade, sending Jesus Sanchez -- their longest tenured outfielder -- to Houston in exchange for right-handed pitcher Ryan Gusto and two prospects - shortstop Chase Jaworsky (Houston's No. 13 prospect, per mlb.com) and outfielder Esmil Valencia.
According to a source, the Marlins dealt Sanchez because they want to give a chance to Jakob Marsee, who was acquired in last year's Luis Arraez trade with San Diego. He could be promoted at any time.
The 24-year-old Marsee, a former sixth-round pick and left-handed hitter, is batting .246 (.379 on base average) with 14 homers, 37 RBI, 14 doubles and 47 steals in 60 attempts in 98 games at Triple A Jacksonville.
Gusto is expected to join Triple A Jacksonville because there are no open spots on the Marlins pitching staff and the organization wants him to remain a starter. He has a similar wins over replacement as Sanchez and is under team control for six years. The Marlins see Jaworsky as a well-rounded prospect with good bat to ball skills.
The Marlins' outfield now will feature All Star Kyle Stowers, Dane Myers, potentially Marsee and Heriberto Hernandez. Here are more details on the Sanchez trade.
Alcantara - who has had a rocky season while returning from Tommy John surgery - hasn't allowed a run in his past 12 innings over two starts, and there was a robust trade market for both him and Cabrera, who has delivered the best season of his career season. Cabrera's 3.35 ERA in 18 starts ranks 14th among National League starters. Both pitchers are under team control for at least two more seasons. Alcantara, 29, is making $17.3 million this season and next season, with a $21 million team option for 2027. Cabrera, 27, is arbitration-eligible for the next two seasons.
Alcantara, who won the 2022 National League Cy Young award, stands first all time among Marlins starters in walks and hits per innings pitched (1.19), second in strikeouts with 870 and third in both complete games (12) and ERA (3.65). He will now have a chance to build on those numbers.
This season, he's 6-9 with a 6.36 ERA in 21 starts, with 155 base-runners allowed in 109 innings.
By also keeping all of their relief pitchers as well as veteran starter Cal Quantrill (who has allowed one earned run in his past three starts, spanning 16 innings), the Marlins kept intact a pitching staff that finished July with a combined 2.60 ERA, the best mark in July in club history and the second-best ERA in any month, trailing only April 2005, when the pitching staff had a 2.28 ERA.
Starters Alcantara, Cabrera, Eury Perez, Quantrill and Janson Junk have all pitched well recently.
Junk, who is 5-2 with a 3.38 ERA, is expected to pitch the opener of a much-anticipated home series against the New York Yankees at 7:10 p.m. Friday. Perez (3-3, 3.07) is scheduled to pitch Game 2 at 4:10 p.m. Saturday at loanDepot Park and Cabrera is scheduled to take the mound Sunday's 1:40 p.m. series finale.
Alcantara and Quantrill will then take their rotation turns in night games against visiting Houston on Monday and Tuesday.
Beside the current rotation, Miami has strong pitching depth in the system, with prospects Thomas White, Adam Mazur and Robby Snelling. Ryan Weathers, who has been out since early June with a lat strain, is expected back later this season.
White, rated by MLB.com as the Marlins' No. 1 prospect, had 14 strikeouts in five scoreless innings in a recent start for Double A Pensacola.
And next spring, the Marlins will get back Braxton Garrett (returning next season from last December's elbow surgery) and Max Meyer, who had a 4.73 ERA in 12 starts before season-ending hip surgery.
The Marlins entered Thursday seven games back of San Diego for the National League's final wild card spot, but also behind the Reds, Cardinals and Giants, the three other teams chasing the Padres.