Yankees mock trade proposal lands former NL Cy Young to bolster injury-laden rotation

The New York Yankees could use some upgrades in the rotation. They await the return of two starters, but they're missing three of the projected five-man rotation from Spring Training. Gerrit Cole is not coming back this season.

They've been able to survive thus far while using Will Warren, Ryan Yarbrough, and Carlos Carrasco, but they will undoubtedly need to make a move to get another starter sooner rather than later.

Enter Sandy Alcantara. The pitcher is probably available given his 2025 struggles and the fact that the Miami Marlins are going nowhere this year. He's one of the most likely candidates to be traded by the deadline, and the Yankees make the most sense.

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Why the Yankees should go after Sandy Alcantara

Sandy Alcantara is a former NL Cy Young winner, although his 2025 stats wouldn't imply that. He has a 7.99 ERA and -0.2 fWAR. Those are far from the inspiring numbers that the Yankees would love to see.

However, they have managed to get solid to good performances from Warren, Yarbrough and Carrasco (before being DFA'd), so their pitching coach is more than capable of bringing something better out of Alcantara. A change of scenery might help, too. Meaningful baseball might as well.

And while Alcantara's numbers are bad, his underlying metrics aren't quite as bad. His xERA is 5.32. That's not good, but it's much better than 7.99. His 4.61 xFIP suggests that a better defense, which the Yankees have, might boost his numbers even more.

The Yankees could use Sandy Alcantara (Imagn)

The Yankees have ridden hot starts from Carlos Rodon and Max Fried to an AL East-leading start. However, as they continue to wait for Luis Gil and Marcus Stroman, they need help. Even when those two get back, they still need a dependable fifth starter.

Alcantara would go from being an ace on a very bad team to a back-end starter on a playoff contender. He'd have more favorable matchups with opposing pitchers and a much better supporting cast.

From the Yankees' perspective, it's a fairly low-risk, high-reward move. Since Alcantara has been so bad, the Yankees could part with a much lower-rated package of prospects to get him. They wouldn't need to package Spencer Jones.

A package of Everson Pereira (12th NYY prospect) and Clayton Beeter (20th overall) for Alcantara could work. Alcantara's contract is $17.3 million, as per Spotrac, but the Yankees could eat the money and pay the luxury tax or throw in another prospect to get Miami to pay some of the money.

Then, if they get him back to form, it would be a huge advantage for their rotation. If they can't, then the Yankees can still do a whole lot worse than Alcantara as a fifth starter who mostly eats innings.