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The New York Yankees appear to be checking the trade market to potentially bolster their starting rotation. On Jan. 4, The Athletic reported, citing league sources, that the Yankees are talking to the Miami Marlins about a potential trade for starting pitcher Edward Cabrera.
The Yankees face a pressing need to bolster their starting rotation, with Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, and Clarke Schmidt all set to miss the start of the season while recovering from elbow surgeries.
With reported interest from the Yankees, SNY’s Emmanuel Berbari believes that a trade for Cabrera is a low-risk, high-reward move for New York.
“He’s fitting exactly the profile they’re looking for: Middle of the rotation, hedge, while some of those guys get back in the early season—and high-end ace upside,” Berbari said on the Jan. 5 edition of “Baseball Night in New York.” “Edward Cabrera—he’s got a fastball, 98 to 100. He’s got that wicked changeup. They can improve the secondary stuff: the slider, the curveball… He’s also coming off a career year at 27 years old—three years of control.
“You’re getting prime Edward Cabrera years. I don’t see any downside for a guy who—we’re not talking about trading for Tarek Scouble. This isn’t going to cost your entire farm system. You bring in Edward Cabrera. Minimum: I see him as a three- or four-starter. Maximum: he’s competing for the top end of the rotation. No downside to this.”
Yankees Should Make a Trade for Marlins’ Edward Cabrera
Moreover, SNY’s Anthony McCarron also believes that trading for Cabrera would be the ideal move for New York to make.
“Unlike the Mets, the Yankees don’t need a guy to bring huge innings with them here,” McCarron said. “The upside, to me, is so attractive that you make a deal like this and then you stick him in the rotation.
“When Rodón and Gerrit Cole come back, then he’s got to navigate through whether he’s still in the rotation, or he’s got to pitch his way into it, or does he profile as a potential bullpen arm with the superior stuff that he clearly has? And maybe the Yankees can help him get even better with some of it.”
Injury Concerns for Edward Cabrera Could Make Trade Risky
There are positives and negatives when it comes to this potential trade for the Yankees. The first is the contract that the Marlins’ starting pitcher has. Cabrera remains under team control through the 2028 season and is projected to earn $3.7 million in arbitration this year, per MLB Trade Rumors. Moreover, he posted a 3.53 ERA across a career-high 137 2/3 innings last season.
However, there’s a concerning side to this interest as Cabrera has dealt with multiple stints on the injured list. He first went on the IL at the season’s start with a right middle finger blister, returned in September with a sprained right elbow, and was also sidelined twice in the first half of 2024 with a right shoulder impingement.
Should the two teams reach an agreement, it would mark the latest transaction involving the Yankees and one of their busiest trade partners in recent seasons.
Eduardo Razo Eduardo Razo is a sports writer for Heavy.com, covering the NFL, MLB, and college football. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has freelanced for PSG Talk, covering Paris Saint-Germain. He also worked as an editor at Athlon Sports, focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo
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