Mark Brown/Getty ImagesThe Miami Marlins and starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara agreed to a five-year, $56 million extension, according to Jordan McPherson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald.
McPherson and Mish noted the contract will be the biggest ever for a pitcher who was still on his rookie deal with three years of arbitration left.
At an annual charity event on Nov. 19, Marlins general manager Kim Ng spoke about Alcantara's value to the team.
"I think he's real important," she said, per MLB.com's Christina De Nicola. "Sandy showed that he's got great stuff—he's always shown that—but I think in particular this year, we saw him get better. We saw him mature even more and know that he's at the front of our staff and holding the fort down for us."
News of Alcantara's extension comes shortly after ESPN's Jeff Passan reported Miami struck a four-year, $53 million deal with Avisail Garcia.
Marlins fans have probably seen enough false dawns to assume this means the money faucet is beginning to open in South Beach.
The franchise committed $194 million in new contracts during the 2012 offseason, only to turn around and trade away its three biggest acquisitions (Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Heath Bell) the next offseason.
Giancarlo Stanton signed a record-setting 13-year, $325 million extension in November 2014 and was sent to the New York Yankees in December 2017 as part of the cost-cutting by a new ownership group led by Derek Jeter and Bruce Sherman.
Having said all of that, signing Alcantara well before he hits free agency certainly sends a solid message.
The 26-year-old went 9-15 with a 3.19 ERA and a 3.42 FIP in 33 starts, per Baseball Reference. He averaged 8.8 strikeouts and 2.2 walks per nine innings. He also logged 205.2 innings after going 197.1 innings in his 2019 All-Star season.
Alcantara is the kind of pitcher who can help anchor a rotation for years, and now he's poised to do just that in Miami for the foreseeable future.
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