Earlier in the week, it appeared as if the New York Yankees could complete a trade for Miami Marlins pitcher Edward Cabrera. Now, it looks as if Cabrera is Chicago bound.
The Cubs are reportedly closing in on a trade for the Marlins flamethrower, and rumor has it that they will be sending to outfield prospect Owen Caissie back to Miami as the centerpiece of the deal.
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Chicago needed a pitcher, and the Marlins have a pitching surplus and need bats, so this is a good trade for both sides.
But what about the Yankees?
In what is becoming a nightmarish offseason in the Bronx, the Yanks are left holding the bag again. Yes, they could still swing a trade for someone like Freddy Peralta or MacKenzie Gore, but their inability to land Cabrera speaks to a greater organizational problem.
For one, New York is far too stingy with its prospects, and secondly, the Yanks must do a better job of developing position players.
We know the Yankees are loaded with young pitching. Their farm system is teeming with electric arms. But hitters? Not so much.
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George Lombard Jr., Dax Kilby, Spencer Jones and Dillon Lewis are the top bats in New York’s organization. The issue is that both Lombard and Kilby are virtually untouchable, and Jones is 24 years old and has not even sniffed the big leagues yet.
New York Yankees infielder George Lombard Jr. Credit:Â Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images.
Lewis is a nice prospect for sure, but the jury is very much out on him.
Miami clearly wanted position players, which may have been why the Marlins preferred the Cubs to the Yankees as trade partners. Or maybe New York just didn’t want to part with any of its top guys?
I’m not saying the Yanks should have surrendered Lombard for Cabrera, who is rife with red flags due to a checkered injury record and a history of command problems. But holding on to prospects too tightly is a Brian Cashman special.
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And if we are being honest, Lombard posted a .215/.337/.358 slash line at Double-A this past season. He also owns a lifetime .718 OPS in the minors. So perhaps he’s just not as good as advertised?
One of two things happened in trade discussions with Miami. Either the Yankees didn’t want to pay a significant cost for a 27-year-old strikeout artist with three years of club control, or the Marlins weren’t buying what the Yankees were selling.
Whatever the case, it underlines a rather glaring organizational issue that is becoming more and more prominent as time passes.
There is still time for New York to complete a big trade for a starting pitcher, but the deeper we get into the winter, you have to wonder if anything of significance will actually occur.