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Don’t even bother calling the New York Yankees about George Lombard Jr. They reportedly don’t want to hear it.
Lombard and Carlos Lagrange, two of New York’s top prospects, “appear to be non-starters” in trade talks, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reported Monday. The team’s search for bullpen help and a right-handed bat apparently will need to utilize trade chips from elsewhere in the organization.
Recent history suggests the Yankees might regret holding their prospects so dear, however.
Lombard, 21, is still playing like a stud in his promotion to Triple-A. He boasts an .803 OPS and five home runs in 44 games with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to justify his No. 20 position in MLB’s prospect rankings. Lagrange, 23, hasn’t performed as strongly. His 4.55 ERA at Triple-A is nothing impressive, but it’s hard to give up too soon on a 6-foot-7 right-handed pitcher.
The Yankees have been here before, however, and some so-called can’t-miss prospects haven’t lived up to the hype.
Jasson Dominguez, once viewed as a surefire mainstay in the Yankee Stadium outfield, is hitting a paltry .230 with five home runs. That’s a far cry from the prodigious power he was advertised as having coming up through the minors. Meanwhile, Spencer Jones looks the part of a left-handed Aaron Judge, standing 6-foot-7, but he’s struck out 34 times in 73 at-bats.
This isn’t to say the Yankees should trade Lombard and Lagrange, or that Dominguez and Jones won’t eventually blossom. Jones is 25 and has only played in 30 MLB games. Dominguez is somehow still only 23. There’s plenty of time for all of them to pan out. Or not.
Patience is always thin in the Bronx, though. It won’t take long for Lombard and Lagrange to go from untouchable today to seemingly missed opportunities tomorrow.
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