Yankees latest trade rumors should finally make Blue Jays fans anxious

The Toronto Blue Jays have stolen much of the spotlight in the American League East with their eventful offseason to date. With big acquisitions in Dylan Cease, Tyler Rogers, Cody Ponce and most recently Kazuma Okamoto, they have made significant improvements in all aspects of their roster heading into the 2026 MLB season.

However, their primary divisional rivals in the New York Yankees won’t be standing on the sidelines for long with respect to major moves as the latest trade rumors coming out of New York should make Blue Jays fans anxious.

Sources have indicated that the Yankees now have their eyes on Miami Marlins right-handed pitcher Edward Cabrera in a potential trade, in addition to continuing their ongoing discussions with the Milwaukee Brewers for ace Freddy Peralta, according to The Athletic.

Yankees latest trade rumors should finally make Blue Jays fans anxious

Cease may ultimately become a difference maker for the Blue Jays, but both Cabrera and Peralta are no slouches either if they happen to land with the Yankees. Cabrera is coming off a strong 2025 campaign with the Marlins in which he posted career highs in wins (8), starts (26), innings pitched (137.2), strikeouts (150) and strikeouts-to-walk ratio (3.13). In addition, he ranked in the 87th percentile in fastball velocity at 96.9 mph and in the 74th percentile and above in chase rate, whiff rate, strikeout rate and ground ball rate, according to Baseball Savant.

As for Peralta, he was one of the big reasons why the Brewers finished atop the entire league with a 97-65 record as he compiled an NL-leading 17 wins to go along with a stellar 2.70 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, along with 204 strikeouts in just 176.2 innings pitched over 33 starts. In doing so, the 29-year-old right-hander became an All-Star for the second time in his career, in addition to finishing fifth overall in NL Cy Young voting.

More importantly, other than strikeout-related categories, both Cabrera and Peralta posted better statistical numbers overall than Cease in 2025, making the potential pitching upgrade for the Yankees quite worrisome for Blue Jays fans if they manage to come through. Toronto though, didn’t have to give up anything other than money to secure the services of Cease. But in order for the Yankees to recruit Cabrera and/or Peralta to New York, they would likely have to sacrifice some precious prospect capital and a bit of their future to get any deal done.

Nevertheless, New York is never afraid when it comes to taking a hit to their farm system to significantly improve the team via trade, as we saw from last season with their haul at the trade deadline. The Blue Jays should prepare for any counter-punch that the Yankees will deliver in the coming weeks. New York will likely remain the primary threat to Toronto for the AL Pennant, as well as their chances to return to the World Series in 2026, should they make these moves.