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The Chicago Cubs added Edward Cabrera to their rotation on Wednesday, acquiring the right-hander in a trade with the Miami Marlins in their first major off-season move.
Chicago sent outfielder Owen Caissie and infield prospects Cristian Hernandez and Edgardo De Leon to Miami for Cabrera, who went 8-7 with a 3.53 earned-run average in a career-high 26 starts and 137 2/3 innings last year.
Caissie, a 23-year-old from Burlington, Ont., could compete for a starting job with the Marlins after making his major league debut in August. Caissie, a second-round pick in the 2020 amateur draft, hit .192 in 12 games with the Cubs, but he batted .286 with 22 homers and 55 runs batted in with triple-A Iowa last season.
Cabrera is eligible for salary arbitration and cannot become a free agent until after the 2028 season.
The Cubs finished second in the National League Central last year with a 92-70 record. They made it to the playoffs for the first time since 2020 before they were eliminated by Milwaukee in a five-game NL Division Series.
Cabrera, who turns 28 in April, joins a deep rotation that also includes Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, Cade Horton and Jameson Taillon, a dual citizen born in Winter Haven, Fla., to Canadian parents and raised in Texas. Colin Rea and Javier Assad are two more starting options, and Justin Steele is coming back from left elbow surgery on April 18.
“[Owen] Caissie reminds me so much of [Kyle] Tucker. The way that we are talking about Tucker… this guy is going to grow into that!”
Harold and Matt are big fans of Owen Caissie and the job @Marlins President of Baseball Ops. Peter Bendix has done constructing Miami’s roster. pic.twitter.com/oOzgBd1xTd
The six-foot-five Cabrera made his major league debut with Miami in 2021. He is 25-29 with a 4.07 ERA in 87 career starts and two relief appearances.
Cabrera arrives in Chicago with some injury concerns, including recurring blisters on his right middle finger. He also was placed on the 15-day injured list on Sept. 1 with a right elbow sprain. He returned on Sept. 23 and pitched five shutout innings against the New York Mets in his final start of the season on Sept. 28.
While the addition of Cabrera strengthens Chicago’s rotation, Caissie was expected to compete for time in right field. Kyle Tucker is expected to leave the Cubs in free agency.
Miami went 79-83 in its first season under manager Clayton McCullough, a 17-game improvement from its last-place finish in 2024. Sandy Alcantara and Eury Perez lead the team’s rotation.
Hernandez, 22, batted .252 with seven homers and 53 RBI for High A South Bend last year. De Leon, 18, played for the Cubs’ team in the Arizona Complex League in 2025, hitting .276 with five homers and 15 RBI in 43 games.
