The New York Yankees could absolutely afford to add another pitcher to their starting rotation, and general manager Brian Cashman has already made it clear he is working to do so.
The Yankees have been connected to free agents like Michael King and Tatsuya Imai, but there are also a plethora of options that should be available on the trade market.
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ESPN’s Jeff Passan recently went through a bunch of potential trade candidates for the winter, and he named Miami Marlins right-hander Edward Cabrera as a possibility. He then listed New York as a possible landing spot for the 27-year-old.
“The hard-throwing Cabrera exceeded 100 innings for the first time in his career in 2025 and flashed frontline starter ability,” Passan wrote. “Is that enough for teams to try to acquire him? Due to Cabrera’s injury history, his ceiling and three years of control, a deal like this is tough to gauge. The Marlins understandably want premium prospects back, and teams understandably are wary of the red flags.”
A former top prospect, Cabrera broke into the big leagues back in 2021, but was never quite able to put it all together until this past season, when he logged a 3.53 ERA while allowing 121 hits and registering 150 strikeouts over 137.2 innings of work.
Cabrera definitely has a checkered medical history, and while he has never experienced a severe injury, it’s worth noting that he missed some time in 2025 due to an elbow issue.
Miami Marlins pitcher Edward Cabrera. Credit:Â Eric Hartline-Imagn Images.
There is no doubting Cabrera’s talent. He was highly touted for a reason. He features a blazing fastball plus some nasty breaking stuff. He also boasts a lifetime 10.0 K/9 rate. However, up until this past year, control had always been a big issue for Cabrera.
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While the Dominican native posted a respectable 3.1 BB/9 in 2025, he owns a lifetime mark of 4.5 walks per nine innings, and he issued six free passes per nine frames as recently as 2023, when he made 22 appearances (20 starts).
It’s entirely possible that Cabrera finally found his groove in 2025. After all, the stuff was always there. However, he will probably cost a fortune. As Passan noted, he is under club control through 2028, and the Marlins were actually one of the best teams in baseball from mid-June through the rest of the season, so they have incentive to keep him.
Miami is definitely in need of bats and has a ton of young pitching in the pipeline (as well as some key arms returning from injury), so perhaps the Fish could view Cabrera as expendable in the right deal.
The Yankees would almost certainly have to part with one of Jasson Dominguez or Spencer Jones in a potential trade for Cabrera. If New York re-signs Cody Bellinger, it would make it more likely that it would move one of its two young outfielders for a hurler, and Cabrera could potentially be on the team’s radar.