4 days Ago
The New York Yankees must add at least one more solid pitcher this year and might just be desperate enough to trade away their top prospect in order to get it. Entering Tuesday's games, Yankees starters have a horrid combined ERA of 5.17.
That is the second worst in MLB behind the rival Baltimore Orioles , who will be one of their biggest competitors on the trade market. That number is also with Max Fried posting a 1.56 ERA through his first three starts, which just goes to show how poor things are behind him.
Alexander Wilson of Empire Sports Media posed an interesting suggestion in offering up top prospect George Lombard Jr. to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for star pitcher Pablo Lopez. Lopez is one of the best pitchers in the game and the Twins are heading towards a fire sale with a 5-12 record, likely to miss the playoffs for a second straight season.
The 29-year-old is currently injured, but is only likely to miss another week or so before coming back. Any deal being made likely wouldn't happen until near the deadline, so that shouldn't scare them away too much. Trading away Lombard would be a risky move, and realistically could only be a starting point for a trade package .
If Lopez is put on the market, New York will not be the only one calling. Lombard would be a solid starting point, though. He is the No.
98 prospect in baseball per the MLB pipeline rankings and is only going to rise before he hit the Majors. The 19-year-old was the Yankees' first round pick back in 2023. He has had a promising start to this season at the plate with a .
286/.417/.357 slash line with two RBI and two stolen bases.
This is a player that could become a Platinum Glove winner that also stole 39 bags a year ago. That is tough to ship away, but Lopez would be more than worth it. As mentioned before, he would provide a long term solution and eventually create one of the best rotations in baseball with Max Fried and a healthy Gerrit Cole.
Lopez is signed through 2027 and has a 1.62 ERA after his first three starts of this season. The 29-year-old rarely walks batters and is among the best at forcing bad contact from getting batters to chase.
It would be a no-brainer move for New York if they are able to pull it off. Recommended Articles.
