Yankees non-tender five relievers, agree to terms with Schmidt, Cabrera

SB Nation

The Yankees non-tendered five relievers at Friday’s trade deadline, the team announced. Mark Leiter Jr., Ian Hamilton, Scott Effross, Jake Cousins, and Michael Arias were not offered contracts by the team,

making each of them a free agent and freeing up five spots on the 40-man roster. The Yankees also reached one-year deals with Clarke Schmidt and Oswaldo Cabrera, avoiding arbitration with each.

Mark Leiter Jr. joined the Yankees from the Cubs at the 2024 deadline. The team valued his high strikeout rate, powered by a nasty splitter, but he struggled in pinstripes, allowing 14 runs in 21.2 innings down the stretch. After getting left of the ALDS roster, Leiter rejoined the team in the ALCS and performed encouragingly in the playoffs, including logging three scoreless innings in the World Series. After pitching to a 4.84 ERA in 59 appearances this season, though, the Yankees decided to part ways with the veteran, who will turn 35 in March. MLB Trade Rumors’ Steve Adams had projected Leiter to make $3 million in his final year of arbitration.

Ian Hamilton had a rousing start to his Yankees career, riding a wipeout slider to a 2.64 ERA and elite 34.6 percent whiff rate in 2023. After working his way into the setup mix the following year, he began to struggle with injuries and inconsistency as the season progressed. That decline continued this season, with the 30-year-old flaming out and finishing the year at Triple-A, where he recorded a 6.00 ERA in 19 appearances. What was expected to be a relatively modest salary number in Hamilton’s first year of arbitration (Adams projected $941,000) wasn’t enough to save his roster spot.

Likewise for Scott Effross. The longest-tenured Yankee among the non-tendered group, the former Cub looked like a real find when he came aboard in 2022, posting a 2.84 ERA in 13 appearances with New York. His season ended with a UCL injury from which he’s never fully recovered and, after allowing 12 runs in just 14 innings over the last two seasons, the Yankees decided to pull the plug. Adams projected Effross to garner $800,000 in his first year of arbitration.

Jake Cousins is another case of promise dashed by injury. He was a key piece in the Yankees’ bullpen in 2024, recording a 2.37 ERA in 38 innings. But after missing the start of this season with an elbow injury, he, too underwent Tommy John surgery in June. With his status for 2026 very much in doubt, the Yankees were forced to move on from the reliever, who was projected to command $841,000 in arbitration.

The only pitcher of the bunch who never appeared for the Yankees, Michael Arias was acquired from the Cubs last offseason for cash considerations. Despite pitching to a 2.73 ERA across four minor-league levels this year, the team didn’t have a spot on their 40-man for the 24-year-old, who was pre-arbitration and could have had his contract renewed.

The Yankees’ agreements with Schmidt and Cabrera prevent either of the mainstays from going to arbitration, locking in their salaries for 2025. Per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, Schmidt will make $4.5 million in 2026, a shade under Adams’ $4.9 million prediction for the starter. After undergoing his second Tommy John surgery this July, Schmidt is expected to miss a good part of the upcoming season. Per YES’s Jack Curry, Cabrera’s contract is for $1.2 million, precisely the number Adams projected for the utilityman. The most encouraging news of the day is that Cabrera is “expected to be 100 percent” at the start of spring training after missing most of this season recovering from a broken ankle.

The Yankees have eight additional arbitration-eligible players who, given the lack of announcement about them, were presumably offered arbitration in advance of today’s deadline but have not yet agreed to new deals with the team. Here are those players along with Adams’ estimates for their likely 2026 salaries: