The New York Yankees have operated as if the calendar itself were the enemy.
April looms large. So does May. Gerrit Cole, Clarke Schmidt, and Carlos Rodon are all expected to miss time, and the front office knows those early weeks could shape the season long before the weather warms. This is not just about depth. It was about survival.
That context is what made the Yankees’ pursuit of pitching feel so urgent, and why the latest development on Edward Cabrera lands with a thud.
Why the Yankees Needed More Than Just “An Arm”
The Yankees were never shopping for innings in the abstract. They were shopping for relevance in the standings while their rotation healed. Without Cole at the front, Schmidt providing stability, and Rodon offering upside, the early-season margin for error shrinks fast.
That urgency showed up in their reported interest in Japan’s Tatsuya Imai before he ultimately signed with the Houston Astros. It showed up again in trade conversations across the league. The Yankees were not chasing luxury. They were chasing necessity.
You could feel it in the way executives spoke, too. The goal was not to find a fifth starter. It was to find someone capable of carrying real weight.
Edward Cabrera Made Sense, Warts and All
Edward Cabrera was never a perfect solution, but he fit the moment.
At 27, Cabrera still has projection left. He also has real results on his résumé. In 2025, he logged 137.2 innings for the Miami Marlins with a 3.53 ERA, struck out 150 batters, and posted 2.0 fWAR. That matters for a Yankees team that needed swing-and-miss stuff as much as length.
Yes, the inconsistency is real. So is the injury history. Cabrera is not Tarik Skubal, and no one pretended otherwise. But for a team staring down April bullpen games and patched-together starts, a high-ceiling arm with strikeout ability had value.
Especially one who could take the ball every fifth day while the rotation waited to get whole.
A Deal That Never Really Was
On Wednesday, that path effectively closed. Reports surfaced that Cabrera was close to being acquired by the Chicago Cubs, and MLB insider Jon Heyman added a telling detail that reframed the Yankees’ involvement entirely.
According to Heyman, the Yankees were “never close.”
That matters more than the loss of Cabrera himself. It suggests the Yankees either could not meet Miami’s price or chose not to push their chips in. Either way, it leaves them right back where they started, scanning a market that is thinning by the day.
This was not a last-minute miss. It was a door that never fully opened.
Time Is Still There, Answers Are Not
Technically, the Yankees still have time. Spring training has not started, and trades can materialize quickly in February. But the clock feels louder now.
The early-season pitching problem did not disappear with Cabrera going elsewhere. If anything, it became clearer. The Yankees still need someone who can function near the top of the rotation, not just soak up innings. They need someone who can keep games close before the offense settles in and the injured starters return.
The Yankees will keep looking because they have no choice. But each passing week narrows the path, and eventually, the season stops waiting.
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