Alexander Wilson
The Yankees are going to spend the next month connected to every expensive reliever with a decent strikeout rate, because deadline season gets ridiculous fast.
Carlos Lagrange is the internal piece making that conversation more interesting, and a little messier. The Yankees have started using him in relief at Triple-A, which is usually not subtle. When a 6-foot-7 arm with triple-digit velocity starts getting bullpen looks in late June, the team is at least asking the question.
Carlos Lagrange is still raw enough to make nobody fully comfortable. The strikeout stuff is loud, the fastball can get silly, and the command can wander off for a snack. I get why the Yankees would be tempted anyway.
The Yankees could use the cheap chaos
Every deadline buyer wants bullpen certainty, then remembers certainty costs a real prospect and usually comes with three other teams bidding. Lagrange gives the Yankees a different path, even if it comes with a crap ton of volatility.
The case is pretty simple. His velocity can change the shape of an inning, and the Yankees do not need him to become a complete starter if the immediate job is three outs in the sixth or seventh. The bar is different and a lot more realistic.
Carlos Lagrange is not a clean answer yet
Here is where I would be careful. A bullpen move is not magic. If Lagrange is still spraying the zone, the stuff will only matter until major-league hitters stop chasing and start making him throw strikes.
The Yankees should still be looking outside the building. They need reliable leverage depth, especially if the rotation keeps putting pressure on the middle innings. But Lagrange changes how desperate they have to be.
If he strings together a few clean relief outings at Triple-A, the Yankees should give him a look before paying deadline prices for someone else’s version of the same idea. The stuff is sitting there. Now they need to find out if the strike zone is coming with it.
More about:New York Yankees
