The Cubs and Marlins have accomplished one of many extra notable trades of the offseason — a swap that’ll ship righty Edward Cabrera from Miami to Chicago in trade for prime outfield prospect Owen Caissie and minor league infielders Cristian Hernandez and Edgardo De Leon.
Cabrera, 28 in April, is a former prime prospect who has proven flashes of excellence up to now however wasn’t wholesome sufficient to ship on that potential till a breakout 2025 marketing campaign. Although he nonetheless logged some IL time this previous season, he turned in a career-high 137 2/3 innings with a robust 3.53 ERA and inspiring underlying numbers. Cabrera punched out 25.8% of opponents, logged a career-low 8.3% stroll fee — much better than the 13.3% clip he carried into the season — recorded a 46.6% ground-ball fee and sat 97 mph on his four-seamer (and 96.8 mph on his sinker) in 2025.
Early within the 2025 season, Cabrera missed two weeks with blisters on his pitching hand — his second profession IL journey as a result of blister troubles. His second IL journey in 2025 was extra alarming, because it was prompted by an elbow sprain late within the 12 months. That’s a much more worrying harm, however Cabrera returned after solely three weeks and fired 9 usually strong innings throughout his ultimate two appearances, sitting 97.7 mph on his four-seamer and 97.9 mph on his sinker throughout that point. Given the commerce curiosity in him this offseason and a deal now nearing its completion, it doesn’t seem there’s any present concern a few main elbow harm looming on the horizon.
Past his premium velocity and high quality fee stats, Cabrera’s contractual scenario all the time figured to carry broad-reaching enchantment. He’s coming into the second of 4 arbitration seasons as a Tremendous Two participant and is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn a extremely inexpensive $3.7MM in 2026. He’s underneath membership management all over 2028, and primarily based on the pretty low place to begin in his arbitration journey, these three seasons aren’t more likely to price far more than $20MM total.
Cabrera will slot right into a deep Cubs rotation combine, becoming a member of Rookie of the 12 months finalist Cade Horton and veterans Matthew Boyd, Jameson Taillon and Shota Imanaga (who accepted a $22.05MM qualifying supply in November). Buying Cabrera seemingly pushes veteran swingman Colin Rea again into an extended reduction function to start the season, although he’d be among the many first males up within the occasion of an harm elsewhere on the workers.
Proper-hander Javier Assad can also be within the combine, although he missed practically the entire 2025 season as a result of a extreme indirect pressure and posted a career-low 15% strikeout fee within the 37 innings he managed to tally late within the season. Assad nonetheless has minor league choices remaining, so he could possibly be despatched to Triple-A to start the 12 months or else thought of for a multi-inning reduction function just like the one Rea would possibly occupy. Different choices down in Triple-A embody hard-throwing 26-year-old righty Ben Brown and former prime prospect Jordan Wicks (additionally 26). Prime prospect Jaxon Wiggins just isn’t but on the 40-man roster and has barely pitched in Triple-A, however he could possibly be in line for a giant league debut this coming season as properly.
In fact, the Cubs might be eagerly awaiting the return of ace Justin Steele, ideally in some unspecified time in the future within the season’s first half. The 30-year-old Steele was the crew’s prime starter from 2022-24, pitching a mixed 427 innings of three.10 ERA ball with plus strikeout, stroll and ground-ball charges, however he made simply 4 begins in 2025 earlier than requiring UCL surgical procedure in late April. Each rehab course of is totally different, but it surely’s affordable to anticipate that he could possibly be again in June or July.
By the season’s second half, the Cubs could possibly be taking a look at a rotation led by Steele, Horton and Cabrera, with veterans Taillon, Boyd, Imanaga and Rea among the many choices for the ultimate couple spots. Accidents will virtually all the time disrupt any crew’s greatest laid plans, however that’s a high quality group of arms that doesn’t even consider Wiggins, who posted a 2.19 ERA and 31% strikeout fee in 18 begins (and one reduction look) between Double-A and Triple-A final 12 months.
On the Marlins facet of issues, Cabrera stood as an apparent commerce candidate — however one who’d come at a reasonably hefty value, on condition that wage and remaining membership management. He landed on the again finish of MLBTR’s Prime 40 Offseason Commerce Candidate listing again in November.
It’s clearly not a financially pushed transfer, however the Fish are deep in rotation choices — with a number of prime prospects nearing readiness — and have numerous holes within the lineup to fill. Swapping out Cabrera for a package deal headlined by Caissie works towards that finish.
Even with Cabrera departing, Miami can roll out a rotation together with Sandy Alcantara, Eury Perez, Ryan Weathers and Braxton Garrett within the prime 4 spots. Journeyman Janson Junk had a surprisingly good displaying with the Fish in 2025 and is an possibility both within the fifth spot or lengthy reduction. The identical could be stated for righty Ryan Gusto, whom the Marlins acquired within the deadline commerce sending Jesus Sanchez to Houston. Former prime prospects Max Meyer, Dax Fulton and Adam Mazur are all on the 40-man roster, too. Present prime prospects Thomas White and Robby Snelling may each debut this coming season. White, specifically, is thought to be one of many prime prospects in the whole sport.
Caissie ought to step proper into the Marlins’ outfield subsequent season. The 23-year-old slugger made his massive league debut this previous season, struggling in a tiny pattern of 27 plate appearances, however is a former second-round decide and longtime prime prospect who has shredded minor league pitching. That features a 2025 marketing campaign wherein he slashed .286/.386/.551 (139 wRC+) with 22 homers, 28 doubles and a pair of triples in 99 video games/433 plate appearances of Triple-A piece.
Caissie is a lefty-swinging nook outfielder with massive energy and large swing-and-miss tendencies. He fanned in practically 28% of his Triple-A plate appearances final 12 months. He’s frequently been capable of offset the harm of these strikeouts by strolling at excessive clips, nonetheless. He drew a free move in 13.2% of his Triple-A plate appearances final 12 months and has an total 13.6% stroll fee in 5 minor league seasons.
Scouting experiences on Caissie reward his plus throwing arm however predict he’ll be restricted to nook work (regardless of some early-career expertise in heart area). He has the makings of a prototypical three-true-outcomes proper fielder. The Marlins may go along with 2025 breakout slugger Kyle Stowers in left area and Caissie in proper, thus giving them a pair of high-powered bats to plug into the center of their order for the foreseeable future.
As a result of Caissie solely made a quick MLB debut this previous season, he nonetheless has six full seasons of membership management remaining. He’s nonetheless rookie-eligible, so the Marlins may probably decide up a draft decide for him through MLB’s prospect promotion incentive program, relying on when he’s introduced up for his Marlins debut and (after all) on how he fares in awards voting early in his massive league tenure. Caissie was solely chosen to the key league roster final offseason, which means he’s solely exhausted one minor league possibility 12 months and nonetheless has two remaining.
Caissie joins Stowers and breakout heart fielder Jakob Marsee in comprising a proficient and intriguing outfield core. The Marlins’ lineup, normally, has gotten extra attention-grabbing over the previous couple years, thanks largely to the emergence of Xavier Edwards alongside these younger outfielders. Former prime catching prospect Agustin Ramirez hit for energy in his rookie marketing campaign this previous season however struggled to get on base and performed extraordinarily poor protection behind the plate. Marlins president Peter Bendix has emphasised that the membership hopes to proceed growing Ramirez behind the plate, however he may see time at first base and DH in 2026, particularly as soon as prime catching prospect Joe Mack debuts.
Hernandez, 22, is a speed-and-defense shortstop who spent the 2025 season with the Cubs’ Excessive-A affiliate. Baseball America just lately ranked him sixteenth amongst Cubs farmhands heading into the 2026 season, noting that he has plus uncooked energy however hits the ball on the bottom far too continuously to ever faucet into that pop. (This previous season’s seven house runs had been a career-high.) BA’s report notes that Hernandez has the instruments to be an above-average defender however is commonly inaccurate together with his throwing regardless of good arm energy.
Bettering the accuracy on Hernandez’s throws looks as if a extra attainable aim than overhauling his offensive method to get extra loft with out compromising his lower-than-average strikeout fee, but when the Marlins can repair each these traits, it’s potential they’ll have a starting-caliber shortstop on their fingers. These are massive “ifs,” after all, notably contemplating that Hernandez simply hit .252/.329/.365 as a 21-year-old in his second stint with the Cubs’ Excessive-A affiliate. He’s a challenge, however a succesful shortstop coming off a 52-steal season (61 makes an attempt) is a pleasant secondary piece so as to add to the system.
De Leon is the furthest from MLB-ready. He’s an 18-year-old who signed as a part of Chicago’s 2024 worldwide class. The 6′, 170-pound De Leon performed with the Cubs’ Dominican Summer time League membership in 2024, hitting .277/.431/.433 in 181 plate appearances. He moved as much as their Rookie-level Arizona Advanced League affiliate in 2025 and slashed .276/.353/.500 in 153 turns on the plate. BA’s Geoff Pontes listed him as a sleeper prospect to look at heading into the 2026 season, citing his encouraging exit velocities and plus uncooked energy.
With simply 334 skilled plate appearances underneath his belt and his nineteenth birthday nonetheless six weeks away, De Leon is a pure improvement challenge for Miami. He’s been a productive hitter in every of his two professional seasons, although, even with some reasonably worrying swing-and-miss tendencies (28.8% strikeout fee in 2025). He’ll in all probability head to the Marlins’ Low-A affiliate to start the 2026 season and doesn’t appear more likely to be a possible main league issue till 2028 or 2029 on the earliest.
The Marlins stay a piece in progress and can more than likely enter 2026 as one thing of a playoff lengthy shot, however there are a variety of upward-pointing arrows on the roster, making it an encouraging time for Miami followers.
Bleacher Nation’s Michael Cerami first reported {that a} Cabrera commerce between the 2 groups was close to completion. Kevin Barral of Fish On First reported Caissie because the seemingly headliner. Christina De Nicola of MLB.com and Craig Mish of SportsGrid broke the information of the opposite two prospects within the deal. Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported that the medical assessment course of had been full and the commerce was official.
