What the Cubs Gave Up in the Edward Cabrera Trade, and What It Means for 2026

Jed Hoyer got his man on Wednesday, as the Chicago Cubs were able to pull off their long-awaited deal for a starting pitcher, in Miami's Edward Cabrera. He'll join Cade Horton and (eventually) Justin Steele in a formidable trio atop the team's rotation. Naturally, in order to acquire an arm as valuable as Cabrera's, you need to give up value in return. 

The Cubs sent outfielder Owen Caissie, shortstop prospect Cristian Hernández, and 18-year-old infield prospect Edgardo De Leon to Miami. Caissie is ready to take on the top level on a full-time basis and was expected to challenge heavily for regular time for the 2026 Cubs. Hernández was a massive international prospect signing for the team in January 2021, and checked in at No. 8 on our list of the organization's top prospects.

Much of the attention to the Cubs' end of things is, obviously, going to surround what Cabrera adds to the roster. When he's healthy, he can be a frontline arm. Yet, it's also important to explore what the acquisition cost means, in terms of the 2026 roster and the longer-term picture. 

The most significant component in this deal is Caissie. The 2025 campaign saw his first action at the top level, but he only got 27 big-league plate appearances, so he maintains rookie status ahead of this year (he sat at the top of our list of Cubs prospects). In his cup of coffee with the Cubs, fans got a concentrated dose of what Caissie does both well and poorly. He notched only five hits and struck out 11 times, but added a homer and a 13.3% Barrel rate to the equation. His 27.9% strikeout rate in Iowa was Caissie's lowest in his minor-league career, while the Cubs fanned just 20.7% of the time. Plus-plus raw power is Caissie's hallmark, and there's an argument to be made that he didn't neatly fit the philosophy the Cubs prefer to instill in their hitters, wherein they rely more on efficient swings than loud ones.

Nevertheless, Caissie was projected to play a significant role for this group in the upcoming season. Whether right field was a timeshare with Seiya Suzuki or he was serving more as a designated hitter, there was finally a path to playing time upon Kyle Tucker's departure. It's not out of the question that his profile played a role in their willingness to move him. They preferred what Moisés Ballesteros brings at the plate, even if he lacks an actual defensive position. It's likely that with this deal, Suzuki assumes full-time duty in right field, while Ballesteros gets plenty of run as the team's designated hitter.

Hernández is an interesting inclusion, as he was certainly a name in the system; he drew Álex Rodríguez comparisons when he was signed out of the Dominican Republic. His bat never got going throughout his time in the system, however, even if he drew rave reviews for his glovework and totaled 97 steals in the last two seasons. His absence will be noteworthy within the system. It'll be interesting to see the shape the team's middle infield takes in the long term now, with Hernández plying his trade in Miami and Nico Hoerner set to hit free agency next winter. Holding onto both Jefferson Rojas and Juan Cabada was key for the Cubs.

De Leon is the wild card here, as he'll turn just 19 next month and was a fresh name in the team's system. He turned in impressive numbers in his first year with the organization in the Arizona Complex League, with a .353 on-base percentage and .500 slugging average. He provides the type of upside you often need to complete a deal of this nature, but at this stage of development, it's impossible to know what his trajectory will be. He's not a valuable defensive player.

As such, the departure in this trade that immediately impacts the Cubs is Caissie. It makes things easier for Craig Counsell this year (on paper), but also saps some of the power the team was poised to get from the corner outfield spots. They may have to look elsewhere to compensate for that. Overall, though, given Caissie's swing-and-miss profile, Hernández's uncertain offensive future, and the early stages of De Leon's development, the Cubs were able to get a guy they coveted for a long time without cannibalizing their farm system. The needle was threaded, if you will.