Yankees’ top prospect floated in Sandy Alcantara trade scenario by former MLB GM originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Spencer Jones is seen as a potential star. The size, the power, the surprising speed have some inside the New York Yankees organization — and outside — call him a young, left-handed Aaron Judge.
So, it’s hard to imagine the Yankees trading their top prospect, but that is exactly when former MLB GM Jim Bowden suggested they will do this winter.
Speaking on his SiriusXM show, Bowden floated the idea that the Yankees could pursue Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara by making Jones the centerpiece of a trade package.
Jones, 24, is coming off a season that showed why the industry is so high on him. Across Double-A and Triple-A, he hit .274 with 35 home runs, 80 RBIs, 29 stolen bases and a .932 OPS over 116 games. In the spring, Jones had been dropped off the top 100 prospects list, and the Yankees returned him to Double-A, in part, because they were concerned about his strikeout rate. He still is too free a swinger, but his power numbers were too impressive to ignore. The Yankees protected him on the 40-man roster for a reason. His exit velocity, athleticism and raw left-handed power are tools that rarely leave an organization unless the return is overwhelming.
Alcantara is one of the few pitchers who could qualify.
The 2022 National League Cy Young winner threw 228 2/3 innings with a 2.28 ERA that year and was arguably the best workhorse in baseball. He missed 2024 after Tommy John surgery but returned in 2025 to an up-and-down season, posting an 11–12 record and a 5.36 ERA with 142 strikeouts in 174 2/3 innings. Even with that step back, his contract makes him valuable: he’s owed $17 million in both 2025 and 2026 with a $21 million club option for 2027.
For a healthy version of Alcantara, that’s frontline-starter affordability.
Under Peter Bendix, the Marlins have shifted firmly into a rebuild, trading veterans, prioritizing long-term power, and making it clear they are building toward 2026 and beyond. That makes an Alcantara trade plausible, but not cheap. If he’s healthy, he is their most valuable asset.
The Yankees are also a logjam in the outfield.
They are pushing for Cody Bellinger to return, Trent Grisham has accepted a qualifying offer and is back for 2025 and Aaron Judge has right field locked down. That would already push Jasson Dominguez to the bench, just like it did during the playoffs in 2025. There isn’t room for Jones in that scenario.
In reality, it almost certainly takes more from the Yankees. Jones is a premium prospect. Alcantara, even coming off surgery, is a premium starter on a team-friendly deal.
It’s the kind of idea that makes winter talk-radio electric — and the kind of blockbuster that would take a lot more than one top pro
