This week’s Edward Cabrera trade was simple from the Chicago Cubs’ perspective. Coming off a wild-card berth in 2025, they believe he can make their starting rotation even stronger. Cabrera is coming off a career year and under club control through 2028. The right-hander’s long list of past injury issues cannot be ignored, but by accepting that risk, the Cubs were able to get him without depleting their farm system.
In exchange, the Miami Marlins received outfielder Owen Caissie and infielders Cristian Hernández and Edgardo De Leon. Here’s what Marlins fans should know about each of them.
Owen Caissie
Caissie, 23, is the main piece of the return. This is a player who the Marlins have had their eye on for a while now, dating back to last offseason when they were in discussions with the Cubs about a potential Jesús Luzardo trade. These teams held Cabrera talks leading up to the July 2025 trade deadline and Caissie was made available back then, sources tell Fish On First.
In Triple-A this past season, Caissie slashed .286/.386/.551/.937 with 22 home runs, 55 RBI and a 139 wRC+. The Cubs called him up towards the end of the season, and in 12 games, he slashed .192/.222/.346/.568 with one home run, four RBI and a 56 wRC+. He will very likely be on the Marlins Opening Day roster, slotting in right field, a source says.
Caissie’s swing decisions were a lot better compared to 2024, when he also played at AAA. He chased less outside the zone, going from 29.7% to 25.7%. He also made contact 52.0% of the time after only making contact 47.5% of the time the previous year.
In Triple-A, Caissie had a barrel rate above 15%, hard-hit rate above 53%, average exit velocity above 92 mph, an xwOBA above .380, and a whiff rate under 28%. The only three MLB players to check all of those boxes last season were Juan Soto, Pete Alonso, and Ben Rice.
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In his first taste of major league pitching, Caissie struck out 40.7% of the time against a 3.7% walk rate. Both of those marks will obviously need to improve for him to be successful.
Pitches up and in to the left-handed hitter have given him problems, as shown by the graphic below. That is something the Marlins organization was able to address with Kyle Stowers last season. Slight mechanical adjustments turned him into an All-Star.
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His power potential is elite, but expect Caissie to have growing pains in the majors. In a best-case scenario, his first full season of production could look similar to what James Wood provided for the 2025 Washington Nationals, consistently blasting extra-base hits to left-center field at loanDepot park.
Cristian Hernández
Hernández, 22, was a highly touted international prospect who signed with the Cubs out of the Dominican Republic in 2021. Unlike Caissie, he has not been showing much game power in the minors, with only 24 home runs through five professional seasons. This past season, in 115 games at the High-A level, he slashed .252/.329/.365/.694 with seven homers, 53 RBI, 54 stolen bases and a 99 wRC+. He was left unprotected for the Rule 5 draft and did not get selected.
One positive is that Hernández has been putting more balls in play as the years go by. After posting a 30.3% strikeout rate in 2022, he has improved every year, dropping down to a 20.7 K% in 2025.
#Cubs No. 11 prospect Cristian Hernandez has seven hits in his last 12 at-bats, including a pair of homers and five RBIs.@USAFRecruiting #AimHigh pic.twitter.com/1mRLpIBjQj
— South Bend Cubs (@SBCubs) August 12, 2025
Hernández is an aggressive and efficient base-stealer with a 84.3% success rate in his MiLB career. His 52 steals in 2025 would have ranked second among all Marlins prospects.
Defensively, Hernández is an above-average defender who has the chance to stick at shortstop. He’s also been given reps at second base every season. It will be interesting to see how the Marlins use him considering that top draft pick Aiva Arquette is a promising shortstop himself and both players are expected to spend most of the 2026 season at Double-A Pensacola.
Edgardo De Leon
The final prospect included in this deal is a classic “lotto ticket” player. Fellow Dominican Edgardo De Leon turns 19 next month and doesn’t yet have any experience above rookie ball. He’s been an effective hitter in both the Dominican Summer League (142 wRC+) and Arizona Complex League (118 wRC+) while putting up a max EV of 112.6 mph.
17 year old Cubs infield prospect Edgardo De Leon gets every bit of this pitch for a long home run in the DSL. pic.twitter.com/CrRMKyg049
— Prospect Dugout (@prospectdugout) August 28, 2024
“De Leon’s profile questions surround his bat-to-ball skills, as he ran a 34% whiff rate in 2025,” notes Geoff Pontes of Baseball America. A lot of refinement is needed.
De Leon has played both corner infield and both corner outfield positions in the past. He should be assigned to Low-A Jupiter.