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Genesis Cabrera

Pirates Sign Génesis Cabrera, Designate Hunter Stratton For Assignment

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The Pirates announced that they have signed left-hander Génesis Cabrera to a major league contract. In corresponding moves, they have optioned right-hander Michael Darrell-Hicks and designated righty Hunter Stratton for assignment.

Cabrera, 28, has some major league success on his track record but has been inconsistent. Since he can’t be optioned to the minors, he has bounced around the league this year. He started the year with the Mets on a minor league deal. That club called him up and put him into six games before designating him for assignment. He cleared waivers, elected free agency and then signed with the Cubs. He made nine appearances for Chicago before the process repeated, with the southpaw again getting designated for assignment and electing free agency in recent days.

Between those two clubs, he has a 6.35 earned run average in 17 innings on the year. His 21.1% strikeout rate and 8.5% walk rate are both close to average but the home run has been a problem. He’s already allowed five, halfway to his personal high, a rate of 19.2% per fly ball.

Ultimately, it’s a small sample of work. As mentioned, he had good seasons in the past. In 2021, he tossed 70 innings for the Cardinals with a 3.73 ERA. His 12.2% walk rate was high but he struck out 26% of batters faced. In the years to come, his walk rate would stay a bit on the high side but the punchouts would oscillate. He only struck out 16.5% of batters faced in 2022, got that back up to 24.3% in 2023, but it dipped again to 18.5% last year.

The Pirates have lost two lefty relievers to the injured list, with Ryan Borucki and Tim Mayza both currently on the shelf. Cabrera can slot in alongside Caleb Ferguson and give the Bucs a second southpaw in the relief corps.

Stratton, 28, started the year with the Bucs on a minor league deal but cracked the Opening Day roster. He has since been shuttled to Triple-A and back a few times. He’s only been put into three big league games, allowing seven earned runs in 2 2/3 innings for an unsightly 23.63 ERA.

His Triple-A work has been far better, with a 3.65 ERA in 24 2/3 innings this year. He struck out 23.8% of batters faced at that level, walked 7.9% and generated grounders on 50% of balls in play. That’s more in line with his previous big league work. With the Bucs over 2023 and 2024, he tossed 49 2/3 innings with a 3.26 ERA, 21% strikeout rate, 4.9% walk rate and 41% ground ball rate.

He now heads into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Pirates could take as long as five days to talk explore trade talks. He has a full slate of options and his numbers have generally been good, so he could appeal to a club looking for extra relief depth. He has less than three years of service time and has not been previously outrighted in his career, so he would not have the right to elect free agency if he passes through outright waivers unclaimed in the next week.

Photo courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski, Imagn Images

Genesis Cabrera Elects Free Agency

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Génesis Cabrera elected free agency after being designated for assignment by the Cubs over the weekend, per the MLB.com transaction tracker. The lefty reliever went unclaimed on waivers and has more than enough service time to return to the market.

Cabrera will seek his third team of the season. He made six appearances for the Mets earlier in the year, working 7 2/3 innings of three-run ball. New York waived him in late May. Cabrera cleared waivers and signed a major league contract with the Cubs. He struggled over nine appearances with Chicago, giving up nine runs through 9 1/3 frames. He struck out eight, issued three walks, and surrendered four home runs.

The 28-year-old Cabrera now carries a 6.35 ERA over 17 innings on the year. He posted a 3.59 mark over 69 appearances for the Blue Jays just last season. That came with an underwhelming strikeout and walk profile, though, leading the Jays to cut him loose at the beginning of the offseason. Cabrera still has plus velocity, averaging north of 96 MPH on his fastball from the left side. He’s an interesting depth target but seems likely to be limited to minor league offers after struggling in Chicago.

Cubs DFA Génesis Cabrera, Promote Nate Pearson

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The Cubs have recalled right-hander Nate Pearson from Triple-A Iowa. To free up a space on the 26-man roster, the team designated left-hander Génesis Cabrera for assignment.

Cabrera, 28, signed a minor league deal with the Mets last offseason and was added to New York’s roster at the beginning of May. He ultimately made just six appearances in Queens, however, and was designated for assignment after posting a 3.52 ERA in 7 2/3 innings of work. The southpaw cleared waives and elected free agency but didn’t stay on the market for long, as he was signed by the Cubs to a big league deal almost immediately afterwards.

Cabrera’s time in Chicago did not go especially well. He made nine appearances in total but was shelled to the tune of an 8.68 ERA with a 7.90 FIP. He struck out a respectable 20.5% of his opponents and walked just 7.7%, but he was a very frequent victim of the long ball as he surrendered four homers during his brief stint in Chicago. While a 26.7% home run to fly ball ratio and a paltry 54.1% strand rate both are clear signals that positive regression is likely on the way, it seems as though Cabrera’s results were just too weak for the Cubs to justify keeping him on the roster.

Chicago will now have one week to trade Cabrera or attempt to pass him through waivers. If he goes through waivers unclaimed, the lefty will have the opportunity to either accept an outright assignment to Triple-A or return to the open market in search of a change of scenery. Given his status a veteran of seven MLB seasons with a career 4.03 ERA in the majors, it wouldn’t be a shock to see rival clubs have interest in Cabrera as a lefty depth piece for their bullpen. That interest may be limited to minor league offers at this point given his recent struggles, however.

In the meantime, Cabrera be replaced on the roster by Pearson. The 28-year-old was once a top pitching prospect with the Blue Jays but was derailed by injuries and traded to the Cubs as a reliever last summer. He pitched quite well for Chicago down the stretch but has allowed ten runs on 13 hits and more walks (7) than strikeouts (5) across 8 2/3 innings of work in the majors this year. Since being demoted to Triple-A, however, he’s posted a sterling 2.22 ERA with a 27.1% strikeout rate in 24 1/3 innings of work. That performance was enough to earn him another shot in the majors, although it could be a brief one given that right-hander Porter Hodge is expected back from the injured list in the near future.

Cubs Designate Brooks Kriske For Assignment

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The Cubs announced that they have signed left-hander Génesis Cabrera, a move that had been previously reported. In a corresponding move, right-hander Brooks Kriske has been designated for assignment.

Kriske, 31, was only just added to the roster less than a week ago. He made one appearance, tossing two scoreless innings against the Reds on Saturday. Unfortunately, the club decided to take a chance on Cabrera, which got Kriske bumped off the roster. He’ll head into DFA limbo for a week at most. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Cubs could potentially take five days to gauge trade interest.

The righty signed a minor league deal with the Cubs in the offseason. Before getting called up, he tossed 18 2/3 innings over 13 Triple-A appearances, allowing 3.38 earned runs per nine. His 10.3% walk rate was a bit high but he had a huge strikeout rate of 35.9%.

That’s generally been his style in the minors. Dating back to the start of 2021, he has thrown 135 2/3 Triple-A innings with a 3.91 ERA, 35.6% strikeout rate and 12.9% walk rate. Despite those big strikeout numbers on the farm, he hasn’t been given a lot of major league opportunities. Adding in this year’s appearance, he now has 23 2/3 major league innings under his belt with a 10.27 ERA. That’s a small sample size and most of the earned runs were allowed back in 2020 and 2021. He spent 2022 and part of 2023 in Japan, where he had a 2.31 ERA in 35 innings.

Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images

Cubs, Genesis Cabrera Agree To Major League Deal

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May 28: It’s a big league contract, reports Thomas Harrigan of MLB.com. Cabrera will draw directly into Craig Counsell’s bullpen once he passes a physical. The Cubs will need to create space on the active and 40-man rosters.

May 27: The Cubs are in agreement with reliever Génesis Cabrera, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. Mike Rodriguez first reported that the sides were nearing a deal. Cabrera had just elected free agency after being waived by the Mets.

Cabrera, 28, was called up by the Mets at the beginning of May. He managed decent results during his few weeks on the MLB roster. He worked 7 2/3 frames of three-run ball, striking out seven while issuing three walks. He averages around 96 MPH on his sinker and four-seam fastball, better than average velocity from the left side.

That has resulted in decent swing-and-miss rates over his career, but it hasn’t been enough to offset spotty command. Cabrera had walked at least 10% of opposing hitters in every big league season before this year’s small sample. He’d dished out five free passes in eight Triple-A innings before being called up.

Cabrera is a former division rival of Chicago’s. He spent his first five seasons with the Cardinals, who dealt him to the Blue Jays at the 2023 deadline. Cabrera pitched well down the stretch for Toronto but fell on harder times a year ago. While he managed a respectable 3.59 ERA across 62 2/3 frames, that came with a diminished 18.5% strikeout rate. The Jays opted to non-tender him instead of retaining for his final year of arbitration.

The Cubs have a pair of veteran lefties in the bullpen: Drew Pomeranz and Caleb Thielbar. Pomeranz has been fantastic, striking out 14 across 12 2/3 scoreless innings to begin his Cubs tenure. Thielbar has been effective as well, posting a 2.37 ERA while striking out nearly a quarter of batters faced in 22 appearances. Luke Little and Tom Cosgrove are on the 40-man roster and on optional assignment to Triple-A Iowa.

Genesis Cabrera Elects Free Agency

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Lefty reliever Génesis Cabrera elected free agency after clearing outright waivers, according to the MLB.com transaction tracker. He’d been designated for assignment by the Mets on Saturday. Outfielder José Azocar, who was taken off the 40-man roster at the same time as Cabrera was, remains in DFA limbo.

The 28-year-old Cabrera returns to the open market after signing an offseason minor league contract with New York. The Mets called him up at the start of this month after losing A.J. Minter and Danny Young to injury. Cabrera was briefly the only southpaw in Carlos Mendoza’s bullpen. New York acquired José Castillo in a minor trade with Arizona and seemingly prefer him. They also brought up Brandon Waddell as a long man over the weekend.

Cabrera managed decent results during his few weeks on the MLB roster. He worked 7 2/3 frames of three-run ball, striking out seven while issuing three walks. He averages around 96 MPH on his sinker and four-seam fastball, better than average velocity from the left side. That has resulted in decent swing-and-miss rates over his career, but it hasn’t been enough to offset spotty command. Cabrera had walked at least 10% of opposing hitters in every big league season before this year’s small sample. He’d dished out five free passes in eight Triple-A innings before being called up.

That Cabrera went unclaimed on waivers suggests he’ll likely need to take another minor league contract. He shouldn’t have any issue finding interest as a Triple-A depth option. The Mets could try to bring him back themselves. Colin Poche and Anthony Gose are working as left-handed bullpen pieces for their top farm team in Syracuse.

Mets Designate Genesis Cabrera, Jose Azocar For Assignment

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The Mets designated lefty reliever Génesis Cabrera and outfielder José Azocar for assignment. That clears a pair of active roster spots for Brandon Waddell and Jared Young, each of whom were recalled from Triple-A Syracuse. Cabrera and Azocar are both out of options, so the Mets needed to DFA them to take them off the big league roster. Their 40-man roster count drops to 38.

Cabrera and Azocar had each been selected onto the MLB team in recent weeks. The former was called up after the team lost A.J. Minter and Danny Young to season-ending surgeries. The 28-year-old Cabrera made six appearances, allowing three runs across 7 2/3 innings. He struck out seven and walked three while averaging around 96 MPH on his fastball. It wasn’t a bad showing altogether.

Unfortunately for Cabrera, he’s a victim of circumstance. The Mets and Dodgers played 13 innings last night. Cabrera went two of them on 20 pitches and probably wouldn’t have been available today. In addition to the four extra frames, that game featured a lengthy third-inning rain delay that forced the Mets to lift starter Griffin Canning rather than try to ramp him back up after the layoff. As a result, all eight members of New York’s bullpen pitched in the eventual 7-5 loss. Waddell hasn’t pitched in six days at Triple-A and is all but certain to get some work behind David Peterson tonight.

Azocar is a more straightforward roster cut. He has been the clear fifth outfielder since the Mets selected his contract on April 17. He has only started five games in as many weeks. Azocar made an appearance as a pinch-runner last night, the first time he’d played in any capacity since May 14. They’ll swap him out for Young, who signed a split deal over the offseason and will be making his team debut. A lefty-swinging corner outfielder/first baseman, Young is hitting .259/.371/.506 with five homers over 22 games in Syracuse. He’ll provide more of a bat-first profile off Carlos Mendoza’s bench.

The Mets have five days to trade Cabrera and Azocar or place them on waivers. There’s a chance they’ll find minor trade interest in Cabrera, though Azocar seems likelier to hit waivers and go unclaimed (as he did during Spring Training). Both players have a previous career outright, meaning they’d each be able to decline a minor league assignment and elect free agency if they clear waivers.

Mets Select Genesis Cabrera, Ty Adcock

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10:30am: The Mets announced that Minter and right-hander Frankie Montas have been transferred from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL, which opens a pair of 40-man spots for Cabrera and Adcock. Montas, like Minter, is dealing with a lat strain. His occurred during spring training, however, and the team’s hope is that he can be ready to join the rotation early this summer. He’s already spent 35 days on the IL, however, and the move to the 60-day list does not reset that clock.

9:20am: The Mets announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contracts of left-handed reliever Genesis Cabrera and right-handed reliever Ty Adcock. Lefty Brandon Waddell and righty Chris Devenski were optioned to Triple-A Syracuse to clear spots on the active roster. The Mets haven’t announced corresponding 40-man moves yet but noted in their announcement that those transactions will be revealed later today. A.J. Minter and Danny Young are both facing lengthy injury absences, so they may be moved to the 60-day injured list to open those 40-man spots. Devenski has presumably agreed to be optioned since he has at least five years of major league service time. Such players can’t be optioned to the minors without their consent.

The southpaw contingent of the Mets’ bullpen has been wiped out in a span of a few days. Up until recently, they had both Minter and Young available. Minter had a 1.64 earned run average through his first 13 appearances. Young’s 4.32 ERA through 10 outings was less impressive but he had a huge 35.1% strikeout rate and 63.2% ground ball rate, as well as a solid 8.1% walk rate. His .450 batting average on balls in play and 61.5% strand rate were both on the unlucky side, which is why his 1.40 FIP and 1.75 SIERA pointed to better results going forward.

That meant manager Carlos Mendoza had a couple of strong options from the left side but that has quickly changed. Minter landed on the 15-day IL on the weekend due to a lat strain and season-ending surgery is a possibility. Young hit the 15-day IL yesterday due to an elbow sprain and he may require Tommy John surgery. So not only are the Mets going to be without Minter and Young in the short term, but maybe for the entire season.

That is surely what has brought Cabrera up to the big leagues today. The 28-year-old signed a minor league deal with the Mets in the offseason and has been pitching for their Triple-A club. He has tossed eight innings over seven appearances for Syracuse. The 7.88 ERA in that time isn’t pretty but it’s a small sample and with a miniscule 34.9% strand rate. He has struck out 35.3% of batters faced and kept balls in play on the ground at a 50% clip, though also with a 14.7% walk rate.

Lack of control is the main knock on Cabrera. He has 275 2/3 innings of major league experience with the Cardinals and Blue Jays, having walked 11.4% of batters faced in that time. He’s been able to work around that at times with strikeouts, though he’s been inconsistent in that regard.

He had a 26% strikeout rate with the Cards in 2021, allowing him to post a 3.73 ERA. But he only punched out 16% of batters in 2022, which helped bump his ERA to 4.63. He corrected a bit in 2023 with a 24.3% strikeout rate and 4.04 ERA. It was a mixed bag last year, as his ERA dropped to 3.59 but mostly via luck. His 18.5% strikeout rate and 10% walk were both subpar figures, but he had a 78.8% strand rate. His 5.13 FIP and 4.58 SIERA both point to the ERA being a mirage.

The Jays seemingly didn’t have faith in him keeping runs off the board at that pace. They could have retained him via arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting a modest $2.5MM salary for this year, but they cut him from the roster instead. That is what led to him landing with the Mets on a minor league deal. The injuries have created a path for him to get back to the majors. He will provide the Mets with one lefty reliever for now and the club will see which version of Cabrera they get.

The club also just needs arms generally, regardless of handedness. They are in the middle of a span where they play 13 straight games. Waddell and Devenski were just called up and combined to cover 6 1/3 innings in yesterday’s game, the former logging 4 1/3 and the latter going for two frames.

They have been swapped out for both Cabrera and Adcock. The 28-year-old Adcock has a fairly limited major league track record, with 20 innings tossed between the 2023 Mariners and 2024 Mets. He has a 5.85 ERA in that time. He has a much better 1.29 ERA in seven innings for Syracuse so far in 2025. That’s obviously a small sample but he has six strikeouts to just one walk.

His overall minor league track record isn’t huge either. The canceled 2020 season and Tommy John surgery in 2021 both put a dent in his ability to get work in. He only has 64 1/3 innings of official minor league work from 2022 to 2025, with a 3.92 ERA, 25.7% strikeout rate and 9.1% walk rate. He still has an option and can be sent back to Syracuse without being exposed to waivers if the Mets want to keep him on the 40-man as depth.

Mets Sign Genesis Cabrera To Minor League Deal

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The Mets announced Wednesday that they’ve signed left-handed reliever Genesis Cabrera to a minor league contract with an invitation to major league spring training.

Cabrera, 28, has spent his career to date with the Cardinals and Blue Jays. The hard-throwing southpaw turned in 62 2/3 innings of 3.59 ERA for Toronto in 2024 but did so with a below-average 18.5% strikeout rate and bloated 10.7% walk rate. Command has consistently been an issue for Cabrera, who’s never walked fewer than 10% of his opponents in a single season.

Even with clear sub-par command, however, Cabrera has typically remained effective. He carries a 3.89 ERA in 275 2/3 big league innings and has often found himself in leverage spots, compiling 67 holds and five saves to this point. His 2024 season in Toronto featured a career-low average velocity on his four-seamer (95.9 mph), though his 96 mph average sinker was up slightly from his 2022-23 levels (but down from a 97.7 mph peak). Last year’s strikeout rate was the second-worst of his career.

The track record and velocity with Cabrera are both intriguing, even if his command has always been poor and his 2024 had some notable red flags. There’s no risk for the Mets to bring him to camp as a non-roster player and see if he pitches his way into a bullpen spot. At the moment, the only left-handed reliever on the Mets’ 40-man roster is Danny Young, so there’s certainly room to add some depth and possibly some additional certainty in that regard as the offseason progresses.

Blue Jays Claim Michael Petersen, Outright Genesis Cabrera

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The Blue Jays announced they’ve claimed reliever Michael Petersen from the Marlins. Toronto outrighted Génesis Cabrera and Luis Frías off the 40-man roster. Both players elected free agency. Toronto also designated righty Emmanuel Ramírez for assignment.

Petersen is on the move for the second time in a few months. Miami grabbed the right-hander off waivers from the Dodgers in September. He allowed four runs across 5 2/3 innings to finish the year. Petersen had made 11 appearances with the Dodgers. He closed his debut campaign with a 5.95 earned run average through 19 2/3 innings.

The 30-year-old Petersen had much better numbers in 33 innings at the Triple-A level. He posted a 1.64 ERA while striking out a massive 35.2% of opponents. The native of the United Kingdom still has a couple options remaining, so he’ll serve as a bullpen depth piece if the Jays keep him on the 40-man roster.

Cabrera’s tenure in Toronto ends after a season and a half. The Jays acquired the southpaw from the Cardinals midway through the ’23 season. Cabrera pitched well down the stretch and returned for a second season. The results were solid enough, as he posted a 3.59 ERA while logging 62 2/3 relief innings. Cabrera had a subpar 18.5% strikeout rate and walked nearly 11% of his opponents, though. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected him for a $2.5MM salary if tendered a contract for his final arbitration year. The Jays evidently weren’t willing to pay that price given Cabrera’s shaky K/BB profile.

Toronto grabbed Frías off waivers from the Diamondbacks late in the year. The 6’3″ righty was blown up for eight runs in 3 1/3 frames. He has a 7.38 ERA over 58 big league appearances. Frías was a reasonably well-regarded prospect who throws in the mid-90s, but he hasn’t shown any kind of strike-throwing consistency in the majors.

Ramírez, 30, was another late-season waiver acquisition. He came over from Miami in early September. Ramírez didn’t make an appearance for the Jays after allowing a near-7.00 ERA over 15 games for the Fish. He’ll presumably find himself on waivers in the next few days.

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