The Yankees brought Clarke Schmidt back off the 60-day injured list on Tuesday, but the roster move came with a sharp turn for one of the organization’s most familiar faces.
Oswaldo Cabrera was designated for assignment before the game, a decision that had been building for a while even if it still landed with some emotion. For years, Cabrera had been the kind of player the Yankees could plug in anywhere and feel good about the energy he brought. That version of him - the promising young bat with defensive flexibility - gave way to something more temporary in recent seasons, and the team’s treatment of him reflected that shift.
His value inside the clubhouse never disappeared. Whenever Cabrera was up with the big league club, he seemed to matter to the room.
His ankle injury against the Mariners last season hit hard, and the tone around the team changed with him out. But the baseball side of the equation kept moving away from him.
After returning for the Yankees’ World Series push in 2024 and then coming back in spring training this year without a clear role, Cabrera was left in limbo.
This season, that limbo turned into a brief cameo. He was promoted for an emergency stretch of three games and went 0 for 9, including a rough extra-inning appearance against Detroit during the June/July swoon. Outside of that, he was effectively parked away from the main group, stuck in Scranton while the Yankees tried to stay afloat in the playoff race.
Before Tuesday, Cabrera had already been mentioned as a possible roster casualty when the Yankees needed room for another move, but the club went another direction last week and elevated Anthony Volpe instead. Volpe’s strong start made that choice easier to defend, and it also pushed Cabrera closer to the edge.
The Yankees’ official roster update made the sequence plain: Clarke Schmidt was returned from his rehab assignment and reinstated from the 60-day injured list, and Cabrera was designated for assignment.
Schmidt has looked like he could be a postseason piece as his rehab assignment stretched on. Cabrera, meanwhile, has put together a .288 average with a .790 OPS in the high minors this year and figures to draw interest from a team that values versatility.
He’s going to be wanted somewhere. It just won’t be in New York.
In Other News...
Giants Just Sent A Worrying Message About Their Secondary
The Giants are clearly shoring up a cornerback room that has been stretched thin by injuries on the outside. Their latest move brought in Nikko Reed from the Chargers practice squad and onto the active 53-man roster, a depth addition that fits the urgency of the moment after the team also added Jaden Robinson to the practice squad.
Reed arrives as an undrafted rookie out of Oregon who already has five games of NFL experience from his time in Los Angeles before a hamstring injury ended his season. For New York, the transaction is less about adding a long-term name and more about keeping the secondary functional while the boundary spots remain in flux, which is never a comforting place to be this deep into the season. [Read more 🡒]
John Harbaugh Is Already Changing The Giants Coaching Debate
Week 1 brought an immediate reminder of why the Giants coaching search felt so consequential, as John Harbaugh and Mike McCarthy both opened their new tenures with wins. The early contrast was easy to spot: Harbaughs Giants looked inventive and adaptable, while McCarthys Steelers leaned on a more cautious, conservative approach, giving the first week a shape that already invited comparisons between the two hires.
For Giants fans, the bigger point is not just the result but the feel of it. Harbaughs debut offered the kind of flexibility and creativity the organization clearly wanted when it made its decision, and the early return only sharpens the debate over passing on McCarthy. One game is hardly a verdict, but it was enough to show why this choice could define the franchises direction for a long time. [Read more 🡒]
Abdul Carter May Be Giving The Giants Defense Its Missing Piece
Abdul Carter wasted little time making his presence felt in Week 1, and the Giants could hardly have asked for a cleaner opening statement from their second-year edge rusher. In the win over the Cowboys, Carter posted a 90.3 PFF grade, finished with five total pressures, and helped force the kind of disruption that turns a defensive possession into a takeaway. Among edge defenders that week, only two graded higher, and no one on the Giants defense topped him.
For a unit that has spent plenty of time searching for a true difference-maker up front, that kind of impact matters. Carter already showed strong pressure production as a rookie, and with a fully guaranteed four-year, $45.3 million contract behind him, the expectation is that this is the level the Giants need to see consistently. If Week 1 was any indication, the more interesting question is not whether Carter can help this defense, but how quickly he can become the piece that changes its ceiling. [Read more 🡒]