Why the Cubs traded for Edward Cabrera, a good pitcher with great potential: ‘The real deal’

MESA, Ariz. — Chicago Cubs officials talk about Edward Cabrera in the same way that people describe a binge-worthy show that hasn’t yet broken through to a wider audience, or an underground band on the verge of making it big.

The possibilities are there with Cabrera, a 6-foot-5 pitcher from the Dominican Republic who had spent his entire professional career with the Miami Marlins until the January trade that added him to a big-market team with World Series ambitions.

“Edward’s the real deal,” Cubs pitcher Matthew Boyd said. “You’re going to see it.”

A crowd of 11,217 gathered on a hot Friday afternoon at Sloan Park, where the Cubs have led the Cactus League in attendance for the last 12 years. After throwing two scoreless innings against the Cleveland Guardians, Cabrera cracked open a clubhouse door and peeked through until the group of reporters waiting outside the training complex noticed. He quickly smiled.

The Cubs and Cabrera are still in the middle of this getting-to-know-each-other stage. Chicago manager Craig Counsell already sounds mildly annoyed by the questions about the grand plans for the new pitcher. Counsell made a point to say that the Cubs are not changing Cabrera’s mechanics or repertoire, and clarified that his 93 mph “changeup” is really just a different version of his fastball.

Even before Cabrera reported for spring training in Arizona, the Cubs envisioned him as a top-of-the-rotation starter, someone who could perform at Wrigley Field in October, an optimistic outlook that still requires a little bit of imagination.

In South Florida, Cabrera mostly flew under the radar, playing on teams that, on average, finished 25 games out of first place during his five years at the major-league level. During that time he also did not complete a wire-to-wire season with the Marlins, spending time on the injured list with a sprained right elbow, a right middle finger blister, a right shoulder impingement and right elbow tendinitis. Some of those issues were recurring.

Nevertheless, the Cubs repeatedly tried to acquire Cabrera from the Marlins — after the 2024 season, at the 2025 trade deadline and again this winter. Internally, Jed Hoyer’s front office recognized that every pitcher comes with some degree of risk. Taking on more risk would be the trade-off for adding a power pitcher with overwhelming stuff.

A three-year window of club control mitigates some of that risk if Cabrera breaks down at some point. His $4.45 million salary created more flexibility to fit Alex Bregman’s five-year, $175 million contract into the budget for baseball operations, giving the pitching staff an All-Star/Gold Glove third baseman who should help in all phases of the game.

In assessing other options, the Cubs found the prices to trade for a controllable starting pitcher to be astronomical. By comparison, it seemed reasonable to give up Owen Caissie, a left-handed slugger who made his major-league debut last year, as well as two minor-league infielders, Cristian Hernandez and Edgardo De Leon.

But this deal was primarily driven by the belief in Cabrera, who will turn 28 in April. He went 8-7 with a 3.53 ERA last year while setting career highs in starts (26) and innings pitched (137⅔). Counsell doesn’t want to overhype the club’s pitch lab, but clearly the Cubs think they can help Cabrera reach another level.

“Because he’s had some injuries, he just hasn’t put together the seasons necessarily that kind of make you go, ‘Wow,’” Counsell said. “I don’t think there’s a big change that we think needs to happen here. That’s not what the trade was about.

“We just think this is a talented pitcher coming into the right part of his career. The health part of this is a real thing that we have to get right to the best of our ability. And then there’s some stuff that we can control.

“I know we want to say that it was us that made him a good pitcher. He’s a good pitcher.”

The Cubs won’t get credit for discovering Cabrera, who already possesses close to triple-digit velocity and multiple pitches with swing-and-miss capabilities. The challenge will be managing his workload and refining his strengths, which lines up well with the program overseen by pitching coach Tommy Hottovy and an established group of assistants and analysts.

Although the Cubs take an individualized approach to instruction and make data-driven decisions for maintenance, the organization has an overall template.

Boyd was coming off several injury-plagued seasons and a strong showing for Cleveland in the 2024 playoffs when he signed a two-year, $29 million contract with the Cubs. His All-Star 2025 season was worth $27.5 million, according to FanGraphs’ dollars metrics, essentially covering the cost of that deal in Year 1 and providing more positive reinforcement.

“In terms of how to fine-tune your abilities,” Boyd said, “it’s like, ‘OK, here’s how we can optimize where you are in your career healthwise and help you go forward with that.’ All those little things — at least from my experience — were huge for me last year.

“I think Tommy was even on record last year saying, ‘If we get 110 innings out of Matty, that’s a win.’ Not that that was ever my thing, but the infrastructure they put in place allowed for way past that (almost 190 innings, including the postseason). That just has to do with the collaboration between the departments, the communication, the implementation of the technology and using it for good.

“You think, ‘OK, cool, they did that with me. Let’s see what they can do with a stallion.’”

Cabrera definitely has a presence about him that Cubs fans will get to see over the next three years. After his Cactus League debut, he walked out of the clubhouse toward the media. He made direct eye contact while answering questions in Spanish.

“I want to thank the organization for the opportunity,” Cabrera said through an interpreter. “I want to take advantage of it to the max. I want to give it my absolute best. It’s a new beginning.”

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