The Braves reached the end of June with a loss to the Cardinals, and the timing may not have felt accidental. Atlanta once looked like it had the NL East under control, but that cushion has nearly vanished. What was a 10-game lead has been trimmed to 2.5 games as July begins, with the Phillies closing hard.
That slide has changed the conversation around the Braves in a hurry. Through the first two months, they looked like the class of MLB, finishing May at 40-20 and sitting comfortably in front of the division.
Philadelphia, meanwhile, was still digging out of an ugly start at 30-29 and 9 1/2 games back. Since then, the script has flipped some: Atlanta went 9-13 in June, while the Phillies surged to 17-8 over their last 25 games.
With the division tightening, Atlanta’s front office is already signaling it plans to be active. General manager Alex Anthopoulos made that clear when he said, “I fully expect and hope that we will be engaged in trades come July.
I'm not trying to overly excite anybody or promise anything. But if we're playing the way we are right now, we're going to be in there,” Anthopoulos said.
Pitching is the obvious place to start, and one name that has come up is Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara. A proposed deal would bring the former Cy Young winner to Atlanta and give the Braves another major arm alongside Chris Sale.
“If the Braves can convince the Marlins to deal Alcantara within the division, he’d be a welcome addition to Atlanta’s rotation. The former Cy Young winner hasn’t had too much success since he missed the 2024 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, but he’s bounced back to some degree this year.
Through 16 starts, he owns a 4.18 ERA (3.99 FIP) and has 77 strikeouts across 103 1/3 innings. While he’s no longer a Cy Young-caliber starter, he’s still a reliable arm who can pitch deep into games,” Rasmussen wrote.
Atlanta knows what Alcantara has been at his best, and that’s part of the appeal. The Braves need help in the rotation, and a proven veteran with his track record would fit the bill. He is also attached to a $56 million contract, which makes him an attainable target for a team that needs impact pitching without blowing up the roster.
A trade within the division would not be simple. But for a Braves club trying to stop its slide and stabilize the rotation, Alcantara is the kind of move that could make plenty of sense.
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Red Sox Suddenly Face A Tough Deadline Call On A Key Starter
If the Red Sox cannot land Tarik Skubal, the trade market still offers a few arms that would change the conversation at the deadline. Joe Ryan stands out as one of the more attractive possibilities because of the control he brings through 2027, while Freddy Peralta offers the kind of pure stuff that can still make a contender dream on upside even after an uneven season. Around those names, clubs are weighing not just talent, but cost, timing and whether a seller is actually willing to part with a starter who can anchor a rotation.
That is where the Sandy Alcantara angle gets interesting for Miami watchers, even if the bigger picture is still fluid. Alcantara belongs in the same broad class of high-end starters teams would love to chase, but the Marlins have played well enough recently to complicate the usual deadline math and make their direction harder to read. For a club that has spent a lot of time in the rumor mix, that uncertainty may be the most important part of the story right now. [Read more 🡒]
Max Meyers Historic Run Ended In A Game Marlins Shouldve Taken
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The bigger concern for the Marlins was the way the game slipped away after they had a path to control it. Meyer worked six innings and the final line did not fully reflect how the outing unfolded, while a defensive miscue helped open the door for Colorados go-ahead rally. Goodman kept adding to a powerful stretch at the plate, and Miami never quite found the answer after falling behind, leaving Meyers historic start intact in all but the one detail the Marlins had spent all year avoiding. [Read more 🡒]
Marlins May Be Building A Rotation The NL Wont Want Later
With a 46-41 record and a spot 5.5 games back of Atlanta, Miami has spent enough time in the race to make the rest of the National League pay attention. The rotation has been a big reason why, with Max Meyer setting the tone and Eury Perez and Sandy Alcantara already in place, giving the Marlins a core that looks a lot sturdier than the one they carried into the season.
Even with that foundation, the biggest question is still the fifth spot, where Janson Junk, Tyler Phillips, Robbie Snelling and some low-priced free-agent possibilities are all in the mix. And while Thomas White is not going to factor into the 2026 picture, the organization still sees him as part of the long-term answer, which is why this group can look more dangerous down the line than it does right now. [Read more 🡒]