Yankees Prospect Update: George Lombard Jr., Henry Lalane, Carlos Lagrange

The one positive about Brian Cashman's annual performance at the trade deadline is that it never, ever features a back-breaking prospect departure. Though Dave Dombrowski's teardown method is one-of-a-kind, we don't know if the Yankees could pull that off.

And even if they could, wouldn't it be a tad deflating? Fans love to keep track of what's happening down on the farm, and seeing top names constantly come and go wouldn't be the most fulfilling way to follow prospects regularly.

Usually, what Cashman does is just clear a path for the next wave/more talented group. He's done it plenty of times in previous seasons, namely with the Sonny Gray, Jameson Taillon, Joey Gallo, Andrew Benintendi, Frankie Montas and Alex Verdugo trades. None of the departed prospects in those deals are filling fans with regret.

It happened again this deadline, too. Cashman shipped Agustin Ramirez, Abrahan Ramirez, Jared Serna, Ben Cowles, Jack Neely and Brandon Lockridge out of town for big-league help and that helped clear up the minor league picture, which now focuses on a rising group beyond Jasson Dominguez and Spencer Jones.

All of George Lombard Jr. (2023 first-round pick), Henry Lalane (2021 international free agent), Carlos Lagrange (2022 international free agent) and Cam Schlittler (2022 seventh-round pick) are rising through the ranks.

Yankees Prospect Update: George Lombard Jr., Henry Lalane, Carlos Lagrange

Lombard Jr. hasn't lit the world on fire this season, hitting just .232 with a .693 OPS across 81 games at Single-A Tampa, but it appears the Yankees have seen enough. His .344 on-base percentage is notable given that it's over 100 points higher than his batting average, and he's stolen 30 bags while getting caught only four times.

That's all on top of playing second base (19 games), shortstop (44 games), and third base (nine games), which is no easy task. Not every prospect's development is linear, and it's nice to see the Yanks giving a talented Lombard the bump up without all of the numbers being there.

Then we have promotions for all of Lalane, Lagrange, Schlittler, and Cade Smith. Both Lalane and Lagrange battled injuries before getting light work in for the FCL Yankees. Schlittler put in a lot of work at High-A Hudson Valley, while Smith paid his due at Single-A Tampa.

Lalane was rumored to be among the potential big-name trade pieces for the Yankees at the deadline, but the 6-foot-7 starter remained with the team when the clock struck 6 p.m. ET on July 30. There are high hopes for the left-hander, who scouts say has the potential to bring three "plus" pitches to the big leagues some day. We didn't know the injury Lalane was dealing with, so it's good to see he's back on track from whatever it was.

Like Lalane, Lagrange got promoted, jumped the prospect ladder after the deadline exodus, was also dealing with an undisclosed injury that kept him out for some time, and is 6-foot-7. He's a right-hander, though, and definitely needs to make some progress this year after logging just 11 games in 22, 12 in 2023, and four this year.

Schlittler and Smith are a bit further down the prospect ranking list, but both are trending upward. Schlittler's 2.60 ERA and 1.13 WHIP with 108 strikeouts across 17 High-A starts (86 2/3 innings) got him bumped to Double-A Somerset, while Smith's 3.47 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 111 strikeouts in 19 games (17 starts), totaling 85 2/3 innings, at Tampa moved him to HV.

There's still a long road ahead for these guys, but Yankees fans should be on top of their progress the remainder of the year, as they could define the top half of the organization's farm system come 2025.