As the Padres gear up for a deadline that seems like it’ll see them operate on both the buying and selling side of the market, they’ve reached out to the Marlins to inquire about right-hander Sandy Alcantara, reports Dennis Lin of The Athletic.
San Diego’s interest in Alcantara comes less than 24 hours after it was reported that they’ve been willing to discuss fellow righty Dylan Cease with other clubs. Lin adds that he’s heard similarly. Both right-handers have underperformed this season but feature strong track records and power arsenals. Shipping out an underperforming former Cy Young finalist to bring in an underperforming former Cy Young winner might seem like shuffling the deck chairs, but there’s typically a method to president of baseball operations A.J. Preller’s deadline madness.
Cease is earning $13.75MM in his final season of club control before reaching free agency. Alcantara is earning $17MM this season and is signed for the same amount in 2026, with a $21MM club option for the 2027 season. If the Padres were to trade Cease and acquire Alcantara, they would essentially be swapping out — not directly for one another, of course — two pitchers of comparable upside but coming away with the one who provides rotation stability beyond the current season.
As ever, there are roadblocks to be considered. The Padres’ baseball operations staff isn’t believed to have much financial flexibility at its disposal presently. That was a key driver in their frugal slate of offseason signings (e.g. Jason Heyward, Connor Joe, Elias Diaz, Martin Maldonado, Jose Iglesias), and it’s also a factor in why they’re listening to offers on Cease in the first place.
Even if they were to trade Cease and the entirety of his remaining salary, turning and adding Alcantara would add about $1.153MM onto the current payroll — and do so at a time when the Padres are also looking for help in left field and behind the plate. That said, the Marlins were willing to pay down virtually all of Luis Arraez’s salary when they lined up with the Padres on a May 2024 trade. Doing so allowed Miami to ask for more talent in exchange and allowed the Padres to get the player they coveted even in the face of payroll constraints from ownership. They could try a similar path here.
That brings up a potentially even more prominent roadblock: a thin farm system. San Diego’s prospect cache has been repeatedly leveraged to acquire veteran players over the years and left the team with a top-heavy system. Shortstop Leo De Vries and catcher Ethan Salas are considered among the sport’s very best young talents. The Padres are ostensibly loath to part with either, and the rest of the system is less compelling.
Trading Cease could help in that regard. Even with the right-hander falling shy of his prior standards this season, he’s still averaging better than 97 mph on his heater and missing bats at an elite level. He’d surely command a notable return. It’s possible Cease could be swapped out for big league help at another position of need (e.g. the previously referenced left field or catcher), but a contending club would likely be reluctant to give the Padres a big league outfielder or catcher in exchange for a rental arm. A trade for prospects would be more straightforward, and because the Padres are a luxury tax payor, there’s incentive to move him rather than make a qualifying offer. Their CBT status would drop the compensation for Cease from a pick after the first round to a pick after the fourth.
Speculatively speaking, the Padres can look to find a trade partner for Cease while in the same breath using some of that return to help pry Alcantara loose from Miami. They could potentially even structure it as a three-team trade, though that’s not necessary. They went through a similar sequence in the 2023-24 offseason when trading Juan Soto to the Yankees for a prospect package headlined by right-hander Drew Thorpe, only to turn and trade Thorpe to the White Sox a couple months later as part of the package to acquire Cease.
Adding Alcantara would be of extra importance to the Padres because of that remaining club control. Both Cease and Michael King are free agents at season’s end. Next year’s rotation outlook currently includes Nick Pivetta, Yu Darvish (in his age-39 season), Joe Musgrove (in his return from Tommy John surgery) and some combination of Randy Vasquez, Stephen Kolek and Ryan Bergert. Pivetta can opt out of his contract after the 2026 season.
Whether some form of Cease/Alcantara shell game comes to fruition or not, the mere fact that the Padres are looking into the possibility serves as a prominent reminder of the type of frenetic dealing that has become a hallmark of the Preller-led Padres this time of year. With several holes on the roster, a tight payroll and a farm system that could work against them, the stage appears to be set for another July of creative dealing from the Padres.
Why is this so confusing
Trade Cease, get prospects, trade prospects, get Sandy… profit?
Let him cook.
It’s about managing assets
LFGSD
SD never knows what they want. First, they want to trade Cease and now going all in for Sandy. MAKE UP YOUR MIND!!!!
Gotta test the water before you jump in, nyy!
And you can’t get to the water if you cease at the sandy.
They no what they want to do, they want to get a return for cease and probably have marlins pick up some money for this year and next and get alcantara cheaper than what they got for cease. These teams that use up the entire budget and have no wiggle room for improvements really back themselves into a corner.
Yankees have done a similar thing with the tax. Hard to make improvements if it costs you double what the guy is worth.
That’s called “creative job security” By shuffling around the deck chairs, Preller can nominally sell it as “improving the team”
Like organizing the deck chairs on the Titanic right?
rocky7:
Never heard of that one! Did you make it up yourself? Brilliant!
The stylings of AJ P are too supreme for the common man
Think ‘a beautiful mind’
Yes please one pitcher the Dodgers can hit
The Padres can’t do anything thanks to Preller. He has screwed the Padres deep into the ground.
Preller has been a fine GM
Schrödinger’s GM
FIRE, Preller screwed the Padres for the next ten years, and going to screw this year again. FIRE Preller,Please
Yep he’s screwed them so bad they are actually good every year. As someone old enough to remember the dog days of the 2010s, this is heaven by comparison.
Aj didn’t screw the team Mr Seidler did.
It’s the ownership curtailing the spending … AJ’s gonna do AJ, but hands tied
All these playoff appearances and contending every year is truly being screwed. The fans have certainly showed how screwed the team is by filling the stands every game, even mid-week day games.
All of this is true but when you look at their salary structure, it’s not hard to envision an absolute dumpster fire when these bills come due. They’re going to be lighting $100 million per year on fire for like 5 or 6 years. That’s an awful lot of money for ownership to just “write off”. Owners always press the button for these deferred deals but when they are paying multiple players $35 million per season to sit on the beach and sip cocktails for 5 years it is bound to impact what they are willing to spend moving forward.
Especially if there is no trophy in the trophy case.
They should get crazy and do De Vries and Salas for Alcantra and Otto Lopez lol
Not a snowballs chance in hell that they would do that.
Then again they traded four solid prospects for 3 months of Tanner Scott :p
Thats not crazy, its stupid. Padres can have Alcantara for a couple of 40 FV prospects.
I don’t think the Padres want to pay Alcantara. He’s making a lot of money if he doesn’t bounce back thats not a good contract. The team acquiring Alcantara has to have the payroll space and the Padres dont have that.
‘If he doesn’t doesn’t bounce back’ is the history of most trades. But if you want a #1/2 type, you either pay big or you gamble.
Most teams if they want a number 1 or number 2 starter they pay big. This is not like most trades. And the acquiring team is going to have to pay a lot in salary. Its very risky.
Hey Joe….didn’t they pay big when they went for Cease…now there’s buyers remorse and Preller is willing to jump right back into that same boat…..he’s quite a laughable GM with his player movement that’s a constant with the Pads….
Not really. Cease main piece has been injured and doesn’t have a high ceiling.
Most professionals in baseball don’t laugh at mr preller
Put on your big boy pants , in analysis of said GM
Alcantara is no longer a #1/#2 type. He is a #5/#6 type.
Alcantara is a trade for 2026, 2027.
Padres should focus on Catcher, LF.
Then see if a longer term rotation deal makes sense.
Plus, there may not be a 2027 season
True!
Tha ks for the reminder.
Preller outhere acting like Farhan. Jesus.
Preller talks to every team about every player that might be available. So there is a lot of smoke around the padres.
Lining up on a deal is difficult to do so wouldn’t put too much stock into any one rumor.
With that said the padres farm system is deep enough that acquire what they need at the deadline without trading Salas or DeVries. Unless they target a star level player with multiple years of control.
Yeah I think the idea that the Padres have no prospects to trade is a bit overblown. And clearly they will trade them they traded Snelling and Lesko last year for Tanner Scott and I dont remember what. Their 2024 draft haul was a good one. Teams would like those players.
They have a number of pitching prospects with 50fv grades with upside. Maybe not ace projections but high enough to land what they need to fill their holes.
Trading cease would likely land them a couple more in that range if they go that route. Which would be worth more than a 4th round pick. So I can see why they are considering it.
Trading Cease would likely land them outside the playoffs. That makes no sense at all. I think the Padres will make trades but it won’t have anything to do with Cease.
It’s true that trading Cease for prospects that are in turn used to acquire Alcantara really doesn’t help the team this year. It likely hurts them if you’ve watched Alcantara’s performance to date. I would discount yesterday’s domination of the Padres as it’s the woeful Padres offense that every pitcher handles with ease. If the Padres want to improve this year without depleting the farm, they should try to find cheap RH bats with some slug – and roll the dice. The biggest need without a doubt however is for the existing lineup full of vets to start hitting. The success of the team’s playoff chances and success if they get there falls on the existing players, not some creative moves by Preller.
Padres have numerous starting pitching prospects with 3 of the 5 talent/ skill valuations are beteeen 50. 55 and 60.
And, they are still young with big upsides and room for their ratings to be adjusted upwards.
I wonder whether some of these Posters are “plants” from competing teams trying to deflate the value of Padres farm players tontry to get the Padres to fork over Devries and/or Salas
Preller & Padres should not fall for those kinds of ruses.
Lol, preller doesn’t rely on mlbtr for ‘intel’
Thanks for comic relief
“With that said the padres farm system is deep enough that acquire what they need at the deadline without trading Salas or DeVries.”
Um, the article and all of the prospect evaluators disagree with your Pollyannish statement. The Padres’ farm sucks, another failure by Preller.
Nah, it’s definitely good enough to get whatever they want.
Certainly any player available
prellers biggest attribute is his ability to restock the farm after making win now moves every single year. he’s definitely on a short list of best head of baseball operations in drafting and developing prospects. plenty of flaws but that ain’t one of them
False!
GMs and Scouts consistently rate Padres farm players very highly each year. Each year we read and hear the doomsday predictions about the Padres Farm system and players by lazy East Coast “evaluators”
sitting in far away cubicles
who are proven wrong year after year.
It’s always funny when fans read a few top 100’s and think they’re experts on the minor leagues.
No top 100s even moved at the deadline and plenty of impactful trades were made.
Red Sox acquire Cease for Gonzalez & password…
Nooooo, not the grand slam hero!
I would prefer the Sox go after Alcantara. I think he has much higher upside.
Alcantara is also about to turn 30 and pitched pretty poorly this year. I’d wait to see what he can do over the rest of the season and maybe revisit a trade in the offseason.
Definitely a risk, but seeing what Chapman has done with Bailey and the pitching staff could show the potential of Alcantara. He will likely cost too much to take a chance on, but I am not overly concerned about his age. Some of the available pitchers that are over 35 and one year rentals would be a bigger concern.
true but chapman had an entire spring training to work with Baily etc to get right. That’s much harder to do on the fly which is why it makes more sense to wait until the offseason.
I agree the cost will be prohibitive as well for the Sox
that is a terrible overpay by the Red Sox and if breslow did that he should be fired on the spot
I predict King will be extended.
+1 on that prediction, Yu!
Preller testing all the waters as he should!
Stop all the flirting and someone make a dang trade
I feel like this is going to be a slow deadline season up until maybe the 31st itself. Only 4 clear sellers without much to sell and between both leagues 12 teams within 3.5 games of a wild card spot it might take these next 7 days to determine who’s really in it and who isn’t
Completely agree. This feels like it is going to be a slow burn with last minute decisions. I think all of the obvious sellers are asking for the sky, the question is will anyone pay the price.
Marlins need Marsee to work out in CF a closer and corner infielders. If this could be achieved for a cost no greater than Alcantara or Cabrera; Sanchez Fortes and Myers, the Marlins could compete for a post season spot in 2026
How about De Vries, Ornelas, Nett, and a pair of minor leaguers for Alcantara and Jesus Sanchez?
Zero chance the padres do that
I don’t think there is such a thing as “zero chance” with Preller
Zero
zero
Simm, there is always a chance. The Marlins could send $25 million, Eury Perez, White, Snelling, Caba, and a couple of prospects along with Alcantara and Sanchez. They still would not get De Vries, but they would get some good prospects from the Padres.
Alcantara and Sanchez have negative trade value in general and even less to the Padres since they need a RHB and a starting pitcher that is better than Vasquez, Kolek, and Bergert which Alcantara is obviously not since the TJ surgery.
There is less than zero chance that the Padres send much more than a couple of 40 FV prospects to the Marlins for Alcantara and that is only if the Marlins pay down most or all of the $25 million he is owed. Sanchez might get a 45 FV prospect. So, the trade proposal given by RSOX has even less chance than that.
As is often said in these parts, there is a snowball’s shot on an El Centro sidewalk at noon in August of that happening.
Web- good point
I will lower it to .00000000001%
No.
Way too much. De Vries alone would require Alcantara, all of Alcantara’s contact paid by Marlins, Sanchez, and “a pair of minor leaguers”.
That’s not even to mention that Preller and the fans are prospect clutching pretty hard on De Vries and Salas, so you can’t get them for a reasonable deal, you’d need an unreasonable deal, the kind that wouldn’t help your team.
Though I doubt what the fans want plays into any move Preller makes. And shouldn’t.
Idk, I can think of a few players no fan base wants, and there are some players synonymous with your rivals you just don’t want.
If it can affect attendance, and in effect the total revenue, then yeah what fans want is gonna matter. But more so on what fans DON’T want.
I can tell you a place like SD don’t want a Justin tuner or Ozuna. For different reasons. I won’t equate being a dodger to domestic violence.
Preller may make a move on one of them, but that baggage, and padres fans voices, will def weigh on the decision.
Why are teams interested in this guy? His K-rate has fallen off a cliff and he’s seen walks increase. His SIERA is 4.64, which is below league average of 3.99. And it’s not like he’s getting unlucky on batted balls with a BABIP of .297 vs. league average of .289. I guess if the Marlins are willing to give him up for mostly nothing, sure but not worth some large haul.
It’s because of his past to go along with his velo being good. His control of his pitches has definitely been an issue. Control can be the last thing to return after TJ. So it’s the hope.
Simms….his past doesn’t help his team win games, especially with the Padres working to get into the playoffs….way too many teams pay way too much for players numbers in the past with their former teams……and secondly with most pitchers throwing the ball at 95 plus…. his velo won’t win games either if he can’t find the plate……and with that contract…..doesn’t bode well for a great return as Old York said…..
You need to consider the upside if he returned to form. Having a different coaching staff to work with can make a huge difference. I have a feeling someone is going to overpay for him, but it may work out.
Instead of Miami picking up some of the Alcantara contract, Preller could convince them to take Matsui as part of the deal. If not, Peralta.
Will wonders never Cease?
Who’s Will Wonders ?
Did he play in the 50s?
That was Will Wanders, always steppin off the rubber
Buy and Sell would be the smart move fir the Padres.
And, the Padres do have highly rated arms AAA,AA and from recent drafts,and,international signings at the lower levels of their farm system.
Many Padres farm players are “underrated” by some of the so called “experts”.
But, competing GMs and Scouts still rate many of the Padres Farm players higher than MLB Trade rumors rates them.
Preller and the Padres have the prospect capital to upgrade @ LF, Catcher and add another young veteran starter.
Their farm system is depleted. Experts don’t hype prospects under the age of 20 and at least 3 years away from potentially impacting a MLB roster. GMs don’t have that much time to wait on returns unless their dumping salaries of marginal big league players.
Experts absolutely hype prospects under 20. When they get above 20 that’s when things get iffy unless they are truly performing.
@msqboxer Their farm was depleted by trades made 2-3 years ago, no doubt. But at the lower and mid levels it’s rebuilding nicely. Doesn’t show up yet in the Top 100 rankings, but the trade value and overall talent there is recognized by other GMs,
Wrong, just wrong. You are now in the level of Mets and Yankees fans who grossly overvalue their prospects. The Padres’ system is devoid of MLB-potential talent. Thanks to Preller.
The Padres currently have a well below average group of prospects. They have a few excellent prospects but terrible depth. Fortunately they are looking at Sandy Alcantara, a pitcher with a $17+ million salary, 6.66 ERA and -1.5 WAR. You don’t trade the #4 prospect in baseball for that.
Take some time and read up on Kash Mayfield, Humberto Cruz, H. Baez, M. Mendez, B. Bateman, B. Rodriguez, T. Neighbors, B. Nett, C. Hightower, K. Fountain
Hahaha good one
Love his ERA. 666
terrifying on two levels
They’re the most mentioned team around the trade deadline but according to the hacks that gotta keep people interested push the same, old, tired narrative…they’re broke.
Let’s talk about something that actually deserves our attention. When is Montreal getting the Expos back?!?!
Outside of a simple head nod, there’s nothing stopping AJ from pushing into Tier 3 of the CBT. Still very strange to hear the “broke” argument when they’re the 9th highest payroll and AJ is always wheelin’ and dealin’ in his attempts to improve our squad. Always appreciate your posts, Gunner!
Back at ya, G! I think Preller would trade parking, concession and security employees if he could. Hahahaha
*shoulder tap on the Field 103 usher*
“Hey Jim from Santee, have a seat. We’ve decided to swap you with Pittsburgh’s hot dog consessionaire, Luis. Don’t feel bad, you should see the kid’s southpaw delivery… with mustard even! Anyway, thanks for your years of service, and here’s your plane ticket.”
And your choice of a Mark Loretta or Khalil Greene Bobblehead…
haha Gw
Padres are not taking on $25+ million for Alcantara. If the Marlins are willing to eat all of his salary except the MLB minimum like they did with Arraez, they may get a couple of 40 FV prospects back.
Everyone is now an “Armchair GM”.
We hear and read that the Padres Farm system sucks like every year by “self proclaimed experts” who are frequently proven wrong.
Scouts and GMs know the real truth that Preller and his staff are outstanding evaluators of talent and they continue to find talent in the international and domestic markets that other teams, forcsime reason, do not see and our find.
And, these opposing GMs always ask for Padres players and farm hands every year in trades.
This year will be no different
All fans will have their opinions, and potentially grossly overrate their own prospects in the venture. There is probably only one GM who consistently surprises everybody in the offseason, at the TDL or even both… and it’s AJ. I suspect this year will be no different. Be well SF! Go Pads
I’m still a huge believer in Alcantara, even if 2025 looks like a lost season. Hope Preller lands him.