Aaron Boone on Yankees’ pursuit of free agent Cody Bellinger
During the MLB Winter Meetings, Yankees manager Aaron Boone addressed issues about the makeup of the 2026 team, including the pursuit of Cody Bellinger.
NEW YORK – Five months ago, the Yankees received an up-close view at Edward Cabrera’s dazzling ability.
After yielding a leadoff homer to Trent Grisham on a Sunday afternoon in Miami, the right-handed Cabrera retired 18 of the next 20 Yankees he faced, striking out seven.
Cabrera did not allow another runner to advance past first base as the mediocre Marlins completed a three-game sweep of the Yankees, at arguably their lowest point of 2025.
Despite their interest in acquiring Cabrera during recent trade conversations, the Yankees lost out again Wednesday.
As confirmed by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, the Marlins sent Cabrera to the Chicago Cubs for a three-player prospect package led by 23-year-old outfielder Owen Caissie.
Under team control through the 2028 season, Cabrera, 27, posted a 3.53 ERA (125 ERA-plus) over 26 starts in 2025, with 150 strikeouts (48 walks) in a career-high 137.2 innings.
Cabrera’s power arm, strikeout ability, groundball rate (46.9 percent in ’25) and relatively low salary this season made him a sought-after arm by several contenders. He also dealt with a blister issue and an elbow sprain last season.
With about five weeks before pitchers and catchers report to spring training, the Yankees continue to comb the trade market for both starters and relievers, but they’ve yet to add an outside arm – except for righty reliever Cade Winquest, selected in the Rule 5 draft.
Lefty Ryan Yarbrough and righty Paul Blackburn re-signed as depth pieces to a rotation that currently features Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Luis Gil and Will Warren.
Working back from elbow surgeries, starters Carlos Rodon (about May), Gerrit Cole (about June) and Clarke Schmidt (August-September) are expected to contribute later this season.
Earlier this week on the YES Network’s Yankees Hot Stove program, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he’d be comfortable entering camp with his current rotation group.
Additions would be welcome, but “if we roll in’’ to Tampa, Fla., with the pitching as currently constituted, Boone feels “we’ll be very competitive every single night.’’
Still, the Yanks continue to be tied more to the trade market (they’ve been linked to interest in Milwaukee starter Freddy Peralta and St. Louis lefty reliever JoJo Romero, among others) than the free agent market during a slow-moving offseason.
As late as the 2024 MLB trade deadline, the Yankees and Marlins swung a significant deal, with catcher Agustin Ramirez leading a three-player prospect package to Miami for All-Star second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr.
Young Yankees outfielders Jasson Dominguez, 23 next month, and Spencer Jones, 24, are potential Yankees trade chips, but their availability is impacted by Cody Bellinger – a main Yankees target still lingering in free agency.