Imagining Two Yankees Blockbuster Pitcher Trades

It's time for the New York Yankees to keep up with the Joneses.

So far, general manager Brian Cashman has watched the Boston Red Sox trade with the St. Louis Cardinals for right-hander Sonny Gray and the Toronto Blue Jays sign Dylan Cease to a seven-year, $210 million contract.

The Yankees could certainly use an extra arm for their rotation with Gerrit Cole (Tommy John surgery), Clarke Schmidt (Tommy John surgery) and Carlos Rodon (elbow surgery) expected to miss the start of the 2026 season.

If Cashman prefers to save his spending cash for an outfielder (Cody Bellinger? Kyle Tucker?), he could take the road less traveled and trade for a starting pitcher.

Gone Fishing

With that in mind, ESPN cooked up a couple of scenarios. One has the Yankees sending outfielder Jasson Dominguez to the Miami Marlins for right-hander Edward Cabrera.

"Dominguez is the kind of high-ceiling youngster the Marlins should be targeting," ESPN's Tristan Cockcroft wrote.

Once the Yankees top prospect, Dominguez could be out of a job in New York if the Yankees end up re-signing Bellinger and/or landing Tucker, the best all-around player on the open market.

"Cabrera is a talented, albeit injury-prone, starter who can provide critical rotation depth while the team waits for the healthy returns of Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon and Clarke Schmidt," Cockcroft added. "Dominguez's two additional years of team control might make this a slight overpay for the Yankees, but Cabrera's projected $3.7 million salary via arbitration could make him an ideal, budget-conscious acquisition."

The 27-year-old Cabrera won a career-high eight games this season while posting a respectable 3.53 ERA. He also set personal bests in innings (137.2), starts (26) and strikeouts (150).

Twin Peaks

Another trade scenario imagined by ESPN had New York getting Twins right-hander Joe Ryan and catcher Ryan Jeffers, although it did not say which players would be heading from the Bronx to Minneapolis.

"Ryan was a popular name at the trade deadline, and he's popular again coming off an All-Star season with a rebuilding team and two years of team control remaining," ESPN's Jorge Castillo wrote. "And as these front offices like to say: You can never have enough starting pitching."