Reds Claim Oswaldo Cabrera

The Reds have claimed infielder/outfielder Oswaldo Cabrera off waivers from the Yankees, according to announcements from both clubs. Alfre Alvarez of Con Las Bases Llenas reported the claim prior to the official announcement. Cabrera had been designated for assignment by the Yankees earlier this week. Cincinnati transferred infielder/outfielder Spencer Steer to the 60-day injured list to open up a 40-man spot. The Reds also made a couple of moves on the pitching side, recalling right-hander Julian Aguiar and placing righty Julian Garcia on the 15-day injured list with right elbow loose bodies, retroactive to September 17.

Cabrera, 27, changes organizations for the first time in his career. The Yankees signed him as an international amateur out of Venezuela about a decade ago. He made it to the major leagues in 2022 and has generally served as a versatile bench/utility piece, as he has experience at every position on the diamond except for catcher.

He got most of his playing time a few years back. He appeared in 44 games in his debut season and then stuck around in 2023 and 2024, getting into over 100 contests in each of those campaigns. By the end of the 2024 season, he had been in 268 big league games in total and made 827 plate appearances. He hit .233/.291/.352 in those, leading to an 81 wRC+. That indicates he was 19% below league average overall but the ability to bounce around to multiple positions made him a solid use of a roster spot.

The past two seasons have been more challenging. In May of 2025, he suffered a gruesome injury when sliding into home. He was obviously in great pain and was eventually diagnosed with a left ankle fracture. He underwent surgery and missed the remainder of that season.

He crossed three years of service while on the injured list and qualified for arbitration. He and the Yankees agreed to a $1.2MM salary for 2026, a bit above this year’s $780K minimum. He has been back from that ankle injury this year but has mostly been on optional assignment. He only made it into three games with the Yankees this year, going hitless in 11 plate appearances.

He’s done fairly well on the farm. In 564 Triple-A plate appearances this year, he has hit .288/.345/.444. The offensive environment in the International League is supercharged this year, so that healthy line translated to a fairly modest 105 wRC+, and Cabrera has gotten some help from a .330 batting average on balls in play.

For the Reds, it’s easy to see the appeal. Cabrera will still have an option remaining next year. Since he has hardly played in the majors this year, he should be able to be retained via arbitration for basically the same price as this year, which is barely above league minimum. Cabrera can give the club some extra depth at multiple spots and either be put on the big league bench or stashed in Triple-A, or shuttled between the two as needed.

As for Steer, this move doesn’t come as a surprise. He hit the 10-day IL in July with a right wrist sprain. Steer relayed in August that he was unlikely to make it back this year. There’s barely a week left in the season now and he hasn’t gone on a rehab assignment, so it doesn’t appear as though that projection has changed.

He’ll finish out the year on the shelf but the IL goes away five days after the World Series. He is making $4MM this year and would be owed a raise in arbitration if the Reds tender him a contract. He could be retained via arbitration again for 2028 before he is currently slated for free agency.

Turning to Garcia, he will undergo a procedure to address the loose bodies in his elbow, per Charlie Goldsmith of Charlie’s Chalkboard. His exact timeline isn’t clear but Goldsmith suggests the hope is that undergoing the procedure now will help Garcia be ready earlier in 2027. Garcia made his debut this year as a 31-year-old and tossed 46 innings over 33 games, allowing 3.13 earned runs per nine. His 22.9% strikeout rate, 10.6% walk rate and 40.7% ground ball rate were all close to league average. He still has a full slate of options and six full seasons of club control remaining.