Sandy Alcantara is 'here right now,' but future with Marlins uncertain

JUPITER, FL—Monday marked the first full-squad workout of Miami Marlins spring training. As they have done in previous years, that meant Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix and chairman & principal owner Bruce Sherman spoke to the media about the upcoming season. The status of Opening Day starter Sandy Alcantara was the final topic discussed.

Alcantara, 29, is entering the fourth year of a five-year, $56M deal. He is currently making $17.3M and will make that same amount in 2026. The contract also includes a $21M club option for 2027. If healthy, it's a very team-friendly deal for an ace, but with the Marlins in the middle of a rebuild and having recently traded many other veterans, rumors have already begun to swirl that their longest-tenured player could be gone soon.

"We can't really comment on what might happen in the future," said Bendix. "Sandy is here right now. Sandy looks as good as I think he's ever looked in his career. He was sitting 98 miles an hour in a side session out on the field looking like he was just playing catch."

"That's unusual," added Bendix, "but really the even more unusual thing is the degree to which Sandy is that leader. He is the leader that everyone else looks to and he is helping set the tone."

Sherman was then asked about whether he would to make a commitment not to trade Alcantara.

"Sandy is on a contract," Sherman said. "I was the one who extended him. He's one of the better deals that we did...I'm gonna rely on the front office for all those decisions, but Sandy is our franchise right now, we get it."

During the presser, both Bendix and Sherman made sure to share their excitement about potentially having Alcantara and Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates face off on Opening Day (the Pirates have not formally announced Skenes as their starter yet). However, fans are left wondering how many more starts they'll get to see Alcantara make in a Marlins uniform after that.