Ask around minor league clubhouses, dig through scouting circles, and one name keeps surfacing like a 100-mph fastball at the letters: Carlos Lagrange.
Signed by the New York Yankees as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic for $10,000 in February 2022, the 6-foot-7 Lagrange has been quietly developing into one of the nastiest pitching prospects in baseball. And now the whispers are growing louder: could the Yankees trade him before fans even get to know him?
The 22-year-old right-hander has lit up radar guns, baffled hitters, and climbed up prospect rankings with a vengeance this season. Currently pitching with the High-A Hudson Valley Renegades, Lagrange has posted a 4.10 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, and 64 strikeouts in just 41.2 innings pitched. His fastball touches triple digits, and the slider? Just ask anyone who’s faced it. It’s “wipeout” in every sense of the word.
“Carlos Lagrange’s powerful fastball and excellent array of secondary pitches present serious ace upside,” wrote Ryan Garcia of Empire Sports Media.
Improved Command Vaults Carlos Lagrange Toward Top of Prospect Pile
Lagrange entered the Yankees system as a high-upside project. The raw stuff was always there, but the command needed polish. Fast forward to 2025, and polish is exactly what he’s showing.
Earlier this spring, he opened eyes with a dominant performance in MLB’s Spring Breakout event. In four innings against Orioles prospects, Lagrange allowed two runs, one of them earned, on two hits and no walks with two strikeouts, hitting 100 on the radar gun on several pitches.
“This was a really big opportunity for me,” Lagrange said through an interpreter after the game. “It meant a lot. It was an opportunity to prove to myself and to everybody else that I’m a good pitcher and that I can throw strikes.”
The buzz has only intensified since. In his most recent start May 28 against the Wilmington Blue Rocks, Lagrange struck out eight over 6.2 innings while allowing one run on just three hits and one walk. It was the seventh time in eight starts this season in which Lagrange walked two batters or less, a marked improvement over 2024, when Lagrange averaged nearly a walk per inning.
“This is a massive step up from any other point in his professional career,” wrote Nolan Rabine of Pinstripe Alley, “and if the results hold over an extended period of time Lagrange will be one of the top prospects in the Yankees’ organization.”
MLB Analyst Suggests Yankees Use Carlos Lagrange as Trade Chip
But with the trade deadline looming and the Yankees in full win-now mode, the front office faces a familiar crossroads: push all in for a playoff run, or preserve the farm for the future. And that’s where the whispers of Lagrange’s name make Yankees fans uncomfortable.
Yanks Go Yard recently listed Lagrange as one of three prime trade chips for the Yankees to dangle ahead of the deadline, along with outfielder Everson Pereira and shortstop Roderick Arias. Their argument? Lagrange’s stock is sky-high, and teams are likely to demand a high-upside arm in any blockbuster.
But should the Yankees go down that road?
Ryan Garcia would warn against it, and he believes that Lagrange, currently the Yankees’ No. 19 prospect, may warrant inclusion in the next overall top 100 list.
“He’s capable of just tearing through a lineup on any given night, and we could see him in Double-A sooner rather than later,” Garcia wrote.
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