Yankees Make Decision on Trade Status of Top Prospect George Lombard Jr.

The New York Yankees have had many top prospects in their farm system over the past few years. Unfortunately, some of them haven’t exactly panned out the way the Yankees were hoping for. 

While it’s always tough to get a feel for what prospects could be in the future, the Yankees look like they have a very good one in George Lombard Jr. Lombard, who could be the Yankee shortstop in the future, is very young, but he has all the tools in the world to not only be an All-Star, but one of the better shortstops in Major League Baseball. 

For that reason alone, some believe there’s no chance he gets traded at the deadline, including The Athletic, which recently looked at who the Yankees could move. Upon examining the situation, they noted that the only untouchable in the system is Lombard.

“If trading the entire farm system is 10, I’d say 8.5. They’re not going to trade George Lombard Jr. Other prospects though? Spencer Jones has to be on the table. Ben Hess and Bryce Cunningham (as well),” they wrote.

Would the Yankees Use Lombard as a Trade Chip?

Given that the New York Yankees have to make a big deal at the trade deadlines to be the team they’re looking to be, some have questioned who they could move. 

According to The Athletic, while Lombard isn’t expected to be available, it’s likely that the Yankees will move on from some of their other top prospects. 

“It depends on who you see as the top two or three guys. Lombard is No. 1. Baseball America had Schlittler as No. 2 in its June update, though the Yankees probably can’t trade him because they need the (rotation) depth. 

“As I’ve written, some teams see Carlos Lagrange as a future All-Star closer, and Cunningham seems to be the best pitcher out of last year’s Yankees draft class. But there are a few high-end arms in the system, and the Yankees tend to get a lot out of middle-round guys. In addition, as mentioned above, I think they would be open to trading Jones,” they added.

Who Will Be the Yankees’ Shortstop of the Future?

For Lombard, the hope is for him to be what the New York Yankees envisioned all of their top prospects to be. While that’ll be difficult, and there’s certainly no guarantee because of how young he is and just how difficult it is to compete at the highest level in Major League Baseball, the signs have been promising. 

According to an anonymous scout when speaking to NJ.com, they believe Lombard is the future at shortstop over Anthony Volpe, which might not come as much of a surprise given what Volpe has done throughout this year.

“I’m hearing that Lombard is the closest thing to untouchable that the Yankees have in their system,” a veteran American League scout told NJ Advance Media.

“Lombard is a better fielder than Volpe,” the scout shot back. “The hands work better. The feet work better. Better arm, and it’s not even close. The timing is better. Lombard’s more fluid. His fielding is crisp, clean and absolutely outstanding.”

Lombard, only 20 years old, has struggled a bit at certain times in his professional career, but for the most part, has been very good. 

He had a .983 OPS in High-A before he moved up to Double-A Somerset, where he’s currently hitting just .202.

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