Trade Talks About Young Marlins Starter 'Intensifying' with Yankees
In this story:
The Miami Marlins may have one less arbitration player to deal with in the coming week.
Per multiple reporters, the Miami Marlins are engaged in discussions with the New York Yankees about starting pitcher Edward Cabrera. The Marlins and Yankees had talked about Cabrera at last season’s trade deadline but did not make a deal.
Chris Kirschner and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription required) were among the first to report that the conversations were happening. Later on Sunday, Yahoo! Sports’ Russell Dorsey reported the talks were “intensifying” but nothing was imminent.
It was thought just a few weeks ago at the Cabrera would remain with Miami for 2026. Now there is more momentum for the Marlins to trade him for what they hope would be a high return.
Why Trade Edward Cabrera?
Cabrera is a right-hander who is arbitration-eligible and has three years of team control. He’s only estimated to get $3.7 million in 2026, per MLB Trade Rumors’ salary arbitration projections. He’s coming off a season in which he went 8-7 with a 3.53 ERA as he started 26 games and threw more than 100 innings for the first time in his career. He struck out 150 and walked 48.
With three years of team control and coming off a solid season, he holds great value for a couple of reasons. He hasn’t yet reached his potential as a starter and his team — whether it be the Marlins or the Yankees — can control his costs for three seasons.
With an intriguing pitch mix, three years of team control and other pitchers in the rotation, Cabrera might be more important to Miami as a trade option than a starter. But the cost to the trade partner may be high.
For the Marlins, that means they can demand more in players or prospects to trade Cabrera. Miami was reportedly asking for Yankees top slugging prospect Spencer Jones in talks last year, but New York balked. With general manager Brian Cashman’s stated goal of adding more pitching, it’s possible he could be budging on Jones.
Last month, when it was apparent Cabrera was on the market, the San Francisco Giants were reportedly kicking the tires on a trade but found the ask from the Marlins to be prohibitively high. In fact, The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly reported that the Giants considered the ask to be something that would set a “disturbing market precedent.” It’s possible the Marlins were asking for Bryce Eldridge, the Giants’ top prospect.
