Edward Cabrera is nowhere near the offseason acquisition the Yankees need

New York Yankees fans are rejoicing. With rumors that the club is in talks with the Miami Marlins to acquire starting pitcher Edward Cabrera, it finally seems that they are getting serious about acquiring a player from outside the organization who is more substantial than Paul DeJong.

The starting rotation is a significant need, and after watching Tatsuya Imai sign with the Houston Astros for significantly less money than expected, it felt like we were on the verge of seeing Paul Blackburn get regular starts.

Acquiring Cabrera would put an end to that. The right-hander is going into his age-28 season, coming off a year in which he posted a more-than-solid 3.53 ERA, and possesses three seasons of team control. Sounds like a Brian Cashman special. And that's exactly why he's not at all what the Yankees need.

Trading for Edward Cabrera would not be the boost to the starting rotation the Yankees need

Jeff Weaver, Javier Vazquez, Sonny Gray, Frankie Montas. Are you getting a vibe? All were talented, controllable starters the Yankees acquired via trade who came over from losing teams in small markets. All of them imploded in the Bronx.

Cabrera has spent his entire career pitching in obscurity in Miami. At points during the season, there are likely to be as many dogs as humans in the stands during his home games. Given the Yankees' history, they should be very wary of importing pitchers coming from that type of environment.

Pitching in the Bronx is another level of expectation. It's one that requires steely resolve once the calendar turns to October, and that's something Cabrera has no experience with. The Marlins haven't always been an outright disaster during the flame-throwing righty's career, but they haven't exactly been competitive either, so who knows how well he'll hold up in that type of environment.

Moreover, Cabrera is something of a one-year wonder. He started getting a lot of buzz at last year's trade deadline, even outshining his teammate and 2022 NL Cy Young Winner, Sandy Alcantara, though neither ended up being moved thanks to the sky-high prices the Marlins set for them.

Still, there are a lot of red flags with Cabrera that have nothing to do with his ability to adapt to the Bronx. First are injury concerns. He's only topped 100 innings once in a single season despite debuting in 2021, and that high came last year when he logged just 137 2/3 innings over 26 starts.

Second is his propensity to hand out free passes. Cabrera posted his best walk numbers, highlighted by a 43rd percentile walk rate (8.3%) in 2025. In the years prior, however, his numbers were egregious, ranging between 11.3% and 15.8%.

Lastly, he can be homer-prone. His 1.11 HR/9 was on the higher side of average in 2025, but he gave up 1.40 HR/9 in 2024. He plays his home games in loanDepot Park, which has a home run factor of 90 (eighth lowest in the league), meaning that moving from one of the least-homer-friendly ballparks in the majors to one of the most-homer-friendly ones wouldn't be the ideal situation for him.

The Yankees finally looking to make a move and no longer ignoring their starting rotation is a good thing, but targeting Edward Cabrera is simply asking for trouble. Brian Cashman loves these flashy, controllable arms, but rarely has it ever worked out in the club's favor.