The Yankees have designated infielder/outfielder Oswaldo Cabrera for assignment, the club announced Wednesday. His spot on the roster goes to right-hander Clarke Schmidt, who has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. The Yankees opted to DFA Cabrera rather than move righty Fernando Cruz to the 60-day injured list; Cruz has been diagnosed with a partial UCL tear but is trying to make it back to the mound and pitch through any discomfort before considering a UCL operation.
Cabrera, 27, has filled a utility role with the Yankees dating back to the 2023 season. The switch-hitter has been up and down between Triple-A Scranton and the Bronx since his debut, though he missed the bulk of the 2025 season following a gruesome injury suffered while tagging on a sacrifice fly. Cabrera avoided a Cal Raleigh tag at home plate and managed to score on Aaron Judge’s fly to right field, but he snapped his ankle in the process. A clearly injured Cabrera laid in a heap at home plate, pounding the dirt in agony.
Testing revealed that he not only suffered a fracture but also sustained ligament damage on the play. Cabrera underwent surgery a couple days later that would cost him the remainder of the season. However, he made sure to issue a heartfelt statement thanking teammates, coaches and fans for the thousands of get-well messages he’d received in the aftermath, writing on Instagram:
“I had THOUSANDS of messages from my family, friends, fans, agents, coaches, teammates…—I simply had messages from EVERYONE. I dropped the phone on the bed and with a big SMILE on my face, the first thing I could say was “God, how blessed I am.” Maybe it’s because it’s only after going through something like this that you realize the love that surrounds us.”
Though Cabrera has only logged 11 plate appearances in the majors this year, he’s had a productive campaign in Scranton. Through 520 plate appearances with the Rail Riders, he’s hitting .289/.346/.447 (106 wRC+) with 19 homers, 11 steals, an 8.5% walk rate and a 20.4% strikeout rate.
In 960 major league plate appearances, Cabrera is a .232/.292/.343 hitter. He’s been considerably better as a left-handed hitter than as a right-handed hitter, though he’s been below average from either batter’s box. On the defensive side of things, Cabrera has played every position on the field other than catcher, albeit only in extremely minimal fashion when it comes to center field (two-thirds of an inning) and on the mound (one-third of an inning). He’s drawn particularly strong defensive grades at third base and in right field.
Cabrera is being paid $1.2MM this season. He entered the year with three-plus seasons of major league service but won’t reach four years after spending the bulk of the ’26 campaign in Triple-A. As such, he figures to command the same salary in 2027 and will remain controllable for three additional seasons — if he’s claimed by another club and tendered a contract. Cabrera’s chances of being claimed should be helped by that low salary, remaining club control, and the fact that he still has one minor league option year remaining beyond the current season.
With the trade deadline behind us, the Yankees’ only choice with Cabrera is to place him on outright waivers. It seems pretty likely that another club will indeed scoop him up to add some versatile, affordable bench depth in future seasons. Outright waiver priority is based on the reverse standings and is not league-specific. The Rockies would have first crack at Cabrera, followed by the Angels, A’s, Giants, Royals, and so forth.
Schmidt’s return was already known to be coming today, though the corresponding 40-man move wasn’t known prior to the team’s announcement. The 30-year-old righty was a key member of New York’s rotation prior to undergoing Tommy John surgery last June. He’s returning as a reliever and will have the next week and a half to make a case for himself to be a member of Aaron Boone’s postseason relief corps.
From 2024-25, Schmidt started 30 games and posted a combined 3.07 ERA, 24.8% strikeout rate and 9% walk rate through 164 innings for the Yanks. He looked sharp in seven minor league rehab innings between Double-A (three frames) and Triple-A (four): three runs allowed on six hits and a walk with 11 punchouts. The velocity on Schmidt’s go-to cutter is down from 92.2 mph in the majors last year to an average of 90.4 mph in Triple-A this season, but he’s sitting 94.1 mph on his four-seamer — right in line with last year’s 94.2 mph average — and has used the pitch far more frequently during his rehab work.
