Why Edward Cabrera Is the Pitcher the Marlins Should Trade

If you were to poll Marlins fans and ask them who has been one of the more frustrating players on the roster over the past couple of years, I would bet the majority would say Edward Cabrera.

Despite having all the talent you could ask a pitcher to possess, a combination of injuries and inconsistencies had not allowed him to reach his true potential.

That was until the 2025 season.

For the first time in his career, Cabrera eclipsed 100 innings pitched in his big league career. This was by far his career year, which could not have come at a better time for the Marlins organization.

Across 137.2 innings, Cabrera pitched to a 3.53 ERA, a 3.83 FIP, with 150 strikeouts and a 2.0 fWAR.

Entering this offseason, the biggest question surrounding the organization would be: “What are the Marlins going to do with their excess of starting pitching?”

While all eyes have been on Sandy Alcantara when discussing trade candidates on the roster, even through his recovery from Tommy John, Cabrera should be the pitcher that the Marlins should be looking to trade this offseason.

The mentioning of Cabrera in trade rumors is not something that recently started at the GM Meetings held a few weeks ago.

Leading up to the trade deadline this past season, Edward was sought after by many teams who were looking to acquire a starting pitcher with control.

With the financial cost of starting pitching continuing to increase, as the recent Dylan Cease contract clearly shows, a young, controllable arm like Cabrera should still be well in demand by teams looking to bolster their starting rotation.

While the former unanimous Cy Young Award winner has the better track record, before the surgery, of being the ace of a rotation, Sandy comes with a lot more question marks that could make teams hesitant to part with valuable assets. Not to mention that he would come at a higher financial cost with less team control.

How We Got Here

Edward Cabrera joined the Miami Marlins back in 2015 out of the Dominican Republic via international free agency.

Cabrera began to debut on the Top Prospects list after one full season in professional baseball, ranking as high as fifth in the Marlins organization before making his Major League debut in the 2021 season. Across nine Minor League seasons, he pitched to a 3.31 ERA over 437.2 innings and a K/9 right under 10.

Throughout his time under the Marlins’ pitching development team, he was able to fine-tune his repertoire, which is now highlighted by the diabolical upper-90s change-up that continues to make its waves across social media when he toes the rubber.

As I mentioned in the opening, a combination of injuries and inconsistencies has been his downfall leading up to the 2025 season.

It started to rear its ugly head back in 2019, when he was in Double-A, when a nagging shoulder injury began to creep up. Since then, in his time in the big leagues alone, he has suffered nerve damage in his bicep, continued shoulder flares, elbow sprains, and the forever-lurking blisters.

All of which occurred on his throwing arm.

Though an elbow strain limited him to only 137.2 innings this season, he showed the baseball world that he can be a staple in a Major League rotation going forward.

Current Contract Situation

Edward Cabrera will be entering his second year of arbitration in the 2026 season. After making $1.95 million in his first year of arb, Cabrera is currently projected to make around $3.75 million for the upcoming season.

Not only is that an affordable price for someone of Edward’s talent, but it’s also the fact that the team acquiring Cabby would have him under team control for three seasons, as he isn’t scheduled to reach free agency until the 2029 season.

With the Marlins currently benefiting from a pitching surplus that allows them to move a Major League arm to help fill out other needs, moving Cabrera over Sandy, who is still owed $38.3 million over the next two seasons, would net them a better return. Sandy is also slated to reach free agency a year sooner.

Luckily for the Marlins, there are plenty of teams that have continued to be linked to the young right-hander who have the assets the Marlins may be looking for to bolster the rest of their roster.

Trade Partners

As I mentioned, there is going to be a litany of suitors for someone like Edward Cabrera.

In one of Peter Bendix’s first interviews in the offseason, he laid out their plans pretty clearly. Owner Bruce Sherman has seemingly given Bendix the green light to spend this offseason, which would be nice considering they’re one offseason removed from where they only signed two players to Major League deals. One of those was designated for assignment before the season ended.

The Marlins have been rumored to be in the market for a middle-of-the-order bat, likely at first base, bullpen help, and potentially adding to their young outfield.

While the search for another outfielder may have come as a surprise at first, with the current outfielder on their 26-man roster all proven capable of holding down a starting spot, we recently got a report that the Marlins were looking to get Griffin Conine reps at first base this spring.

If that is the case, it does create flexibility for Bendix and the Front Office in their search for a return in a trade or via free agency.

Here are a few of the teams that have been mentioned to be looking for controllable starting pitching and have the assets the Marlins have been rumored to be looking for.

Note: Players mentioned as potential trade chips are to be considered names involved in a trade package.

Baltimore Orioles

I do not believe it would be a stretch to say that the Baltimore Orioles have been the most aggressive team to start the offseason.

After opening up this part of the season with a need for pitching, they went on and flipped Grayson Rodriguez to the Angels for outfielder Taylor Ward. With the need for starting pitching having grown, and a track record of not being willing to spend, a trade for Cabrera makes all the sense in the world.

If Mike Elias decides he’s willing to deal some of his young prospects, the Marlins could potentially look to fill their offensive needs in one trade. What the Orioles have done with one corner infield prospect has been head-scratching to say the least. Could the South Florida native return home?

Now, after adding another outfielder to their Major League roster, Baltimore has a glut of young outfielders who could be made available due to the organizational logjam they currently have.

Potential Trade Chips: Coby Mayo (1B/3B), Heston Kjerstad (1B/OF), Dylan Beavers (OF)

Boston Red Sox

Even after the acquisition of Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo, the Red Sox are still rumored to be looking for more starting pitching. Which makes sense considering Gray is a one-year stopgap.

While they do have options to fill out their rotation as it is, especially with the emergence of rookies Peyton Tolle and Connelly Early, there are still plenty of question marks for a team that is looking to advance past the AL Wild Card Series.

It’s no secret that there’s a certain first baseman who has seemed to fall out of favor with the organization and their fanbase. Aside from him, they also have an outfielder on their 26-man roster who has been mentioned in trade packages to help them acquire a starter.

Potential Trade Chips: Triston Casas (1B), Jarren Duran (OF), Miguel Bleis(OF), Kyle Harrison (LHP)

Chicago Cubs

It always feels as if the Cubs are rumored to be involved in trade talks with teams, but, aside from the Kyle Tucker trade, it seems as if they are the trade market version of the Toronto Blue Jays in ending up as the runner-ups.

The Cubs were one of the teams rumored to be heavily involved in talks surrounding Edward Cabrera at the deadline. After falling short in the postseason and the persistent need for starting pitching, these two should look to restart those trade talks.

Peter Bendix and Jed Hoyer have had discussions in the past surrounding starting pitchers as they were linked to Jesus Luzardo before a reported snag in a medical ultimately ended up sending the lefty elsewhere.

This phone call should last less than five minutes if the two were to seriously re-engage in discussions again, and the Cubs have the pieces the Marlins would be looking for in a trade to fill needs on their roster.

Potential Trade Chips: Owen Cassie (OF), Jefferson Rojas (SS), Jaxon Wiggins (RHP), James Triantos (UTL)

New York Yankees

Even with the eventual return of Gerrit Cole, the Yankees’ rotation is still in desperate need of help as they go into the 2026 season. Not to mention the fact that both Carlos Rodón and Clarke Schmidt are also expected to start the season on the injured list.

Max Fried will open the season as the number one, with playoff star Cam Schlittler likely occupying the number two spot, but Luis Gil, Will Warren, and Allan Winans are currently projected to fill out the rotation until they are back at full strength.

The Yankees are another contending team with the trade assets that could entice the Marlins enough to part ways with Cabrera. Many analysts had been linking Edward to New York going back to the deadline.

At the end of the day, it comes down to the willingness of both sides in whether one is okay with taking what could be seen as a reclamation project with high upside, or the other being okay with moving on from a 2025 breakout.

If the Yankees were to look via the trade market to fill this need, Edward Cabrera would be the perfect target for them, and these two teams have a recent history of trading with each other.

Potential Trade Chips: Ben Rice (1B/DH), Jasson Dominguez (OF), Spencer Jones (OF)

St. Louis Cardinals

While this team may be a little shocking to see on the list, Chaim Bloom has been clear about his search for young starting pitching.

Trading Sonny Gray should have sounded the horns that the Cardinals are officially entering their retooling phase now that Chaim has taken control. There have been multiple players openly named to be on the trade block, and some of them would fit the Marlins’ needs perfectly.

With three cheap years of control still attached to Edward Cabrera, the 27-year-old fits the mold of what the Cardinals may be looking for to improve their starting pitching heading into 2026.

There is a combination of veterans and young players that the Cardinals are looking to move on from, Nolan Arenado being the most notable, but I do not see the Marlins’ Front Office trading Cabrera for Arenado.

While they would likely prefer to stay young, that doesn’t mean there aren’t other potential options that could be of interest to Bendix and bring in players who could bolster their offense going forward.

Potential Trade Chips: Willson Contreras (1B), Alec Burleson (1B/OF), Jordan Walker (OF)

So Long Cabby?

As the season went on, optimism continued to grow for a Marlins organization that was projected to lose 100 games in 2025. Though they put up a fight up until the very end, falling short of the postseason should not deem this past year as a failure.

With the National League East seemingly being as open as it has been in some time, who’s to say a couple of moves wouldn’t put them in position to begin competing sooner than anyone else could have expected?

Sandy Alcantara is clearly the bigger name of the two. The interest across the league is clearly still there with all of the teams continuously linked to Sandy, even after the struggles in his first year back from elbow surgery. At the end of the day, the cost that comes with Sandy would be what would limit the return in a potential deal.

While fans have been patiently waiting for this version of Edward Cabrera to finally show himself, it would do the future of the organization a disservice not to attempt to capitalize on what was a career year for Edward Cabrera.