{"id":850051,"date":"2026-09-16T18:22:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T18:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/850051\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T18:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T18:22:09","slug":"yankees-designate-oswaldo-cabrera-for-assignment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/850051\/","title":{"rendered":"Yankees Designate Oswaldo Cabrera For Assignment"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Yankees have designated infielder\/outfielder Oswaldo Cabrera<\/a> for assignment, the club announced Wednesday. His spot on the roster goes to right-hander Clarke Schmidt<\/a>, who has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. The Yankees opted to DFA Cabrera rather than move righty Fernando Cruz<\/a> to the 60-day injured list; Cruz has been diagnosed with a partial UCL tear but is trying to make it back to the mound<\/a> and pitch through any discomfort before considering a UCL operation.<\/p>\n

Cabrera, 27, has filled a utility role with the Yankees dating back to the 2023 season. The switch-hitter has been up and down between Triple-A Scranton and the Bronx since his debut, though he missed the bulk of the 2025 season following a gruesome injury suffered while tagging on a sacrifice fly. Cabrera avoided a Cal Raleigh<\/a> tag at home plate and managed to score on Aaron Judge<\/a>\u2019s fly to right field, but he snapped his ankle in the process. A clearly injured Cabrera laid in a heap at home plate, pounding the dirt in agony.<\/p>\n

Testing revealed that he not only suffered a fracture but also sustained ligament damage on the play. Cabrera underwent surgery a couple days later that would cost him the remainder of the season. However, he made sure to issue a heartfelt statement<\/a> thanking teammates, coaches and fans for the thousands of get-well messages he\u2019d received in the aftermath, writing on Instagram:<\/p>\n

\u201cI had THOUSANDS of messages from my family, friends, fans, agents, coaches, teammates\u2026\u2014I simply had messages from EVERYONE. I dropped the phone on the bed and with a big SMILE on my face, the first thing I could say was \u201cGod, how blessed I am.\u201d Maybe it\u2019s because it\u2019s only after going through something like this that you realize the love that surrounds us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though Cabrera has only logged 11 plate appearances in the majors this year, he\u2019s had a productive campaign in Scranton. Through 520 plate appearances with the Rail Riders, he\u2019s hitting .289\/.346\/.447 (106 wRC+) with 19 homers, 11 steals, an 8.5% walk rate and a 20.4% strikeout rate.<\/p>\n

In 960 major league plate appearances, Cabrera is a .232\/.292\/.343 hitter. He\u2019s been considerably better as a left-handed hitter than as a right-handed hitter, though he\u2019s been below average from either batter\u2019s box. On the defensive side of things, Cabrera has played every position on the field other than catcher, albeit only in extremely minimal fashion when it comes to center field (two-thirds of an inning) and on the mound (one-third of an inning). He\u2019s drawn particularly strong defensive grades at third base and in right field.<\/p>\n

Cabrera is being paid $1.2MM this season. He entered the year with three-plus seasons of major league service but won\u2019t reach four years after spending the bulk of the \u201926 campaign in Triple-A. As such, he figures to command the same salary in 2027 and will remain controllable for three additional seasons \u2014 if he\u2019s claimed by another club and tendered a contract. Cabrera\u2019s chances of being claimed should be helped by that low salary, remaining club control, and the fact that he still has one minor league option year remaining beyond the current season.<\/p>\n

With the trade deadline behind us, the Yankees\u2019 only choice with Cabrera is to place him on outright waivers. It seems pretty likely that another club will indeed scoop him up to add some versatile, affordable bench depth in future seasons. Outright waiver priority is based on the reverse standings and is not league-specific. The Rockies would have first crack at Cabrera, followed by the Angels, A\u2019s, Giants, Royals, and so forth.<\/p>\n

Schmidt\u2019s return was already known to be coming today<\/a>, though the corresponding 40-man move wasn\u2019t known prior to the team\u2019s announcement. The 30-year-old righty was a key member of New York\u2019s rotation prior to undergoing Tommy John surgery last June. He\u2019s returning as a reliever and will have the next week and a half to make a case for himself to be a member of Aaron Boone<\/a>\u2019s postseason relief corps.<\/p>\n

From 2024-25, Schmidt started 30 games and posted a combined 3.07 ERA, 24.8% strikeout rate and 9% walk rate through 164 innings for the Yanks. He looked sharp in seven minor league rehab innings between Double-A (three frames) and Triple-A (four): three runs allowed on six hits and a walk with 11 punchouts. The velocity on Schmidt\u2019s go-to cutter is down from 92.2 mph in the majors last year to an average of 90.4 mph in Triple-A this season, but he\u2019s sitting 94.1 mph on his four-seamer \u2014 right in line with last year\u2019s 94.2 mph average \u2014 and has used the pitch far more frequently during his rehab work.<\/p>\n

\t\t