Prospect Yankees snapped up in Red Sox trade breaks through major rankings barrier

Objectively, the Boston Red Sox have gotten the better of the New York Yankees in the Carlos Narvaez trade, to this point. They have received above-average MLB production at a position of need, dealing away an arm from their apparent surplus to fill the gap - although it seems Connor Wong was the Aroldis Chapman Whisperer/the most important person in the world the entire time, so did they really need Narvaez?

Yes. Uh ... yes, they did.

That said, while Narvaez's production has occurred with the big club, and the Yankees have only received dominance below the surface from their end of the deal, righty Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz, there's certainly a chance this will eventually morph from a fleece into a good, solid baseball trade where both teams profit. Narvaez has leveled off somewhat; he's an excellent defensive catcher, and the bat still looks dependable, but not as spectacular as it did in the early going when jaws were still on the Fenway Park ground. He now sports a 105 OPS+, on a scale where 100 is average.

Rodriguez-Cruz? He just keeps getting more impressive, and will likely open the 2026 season at Triple-A after cracking the latest edition of Baseball America's Top 100 prospects.

Yankees-Red Sox rivalry balance could shift after Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz cracks Top 100 prospects list

At the time of Narvaez's emergence, our official statement to the press was: "If you like Rodriguez-Cruz, great. But can't you get your pitching prospects somewhere else? Would it have killed you to plunder the Giants' farm system instead of Boston's, all things being equal?"

These days, it does seem like Rodriguez-Cruz might be uniquely suited to the Yankees' development preferences, perfecting the same whip-fire motion that has turned Will Warren into a success. The wiry Rodriguez-Cruz has struck out an impressive 166 batters in 140 innings this series, holding complete and total control over opposing lineups, and looking his very best against the Eastern League's elite: the New York Mets' Binghamton Rumble Ponies, where he locked horns with Jonah Tong and won twice. He's posted six scoreless starts since the start of July, five of them coming in the second half. He's gained steam, not lost it.

Don't look now, but for a rivalry traditionally built on thunder and lightning, the next generation of the Yankees and Red Sox might be arm-heavy, with Garrett Crochet, Brayan Bello, Payton Tolle, Connelly Early and Brandon Clarke locking horns with Max Fried, Carlos Rodón, Gerrit Cole, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren, Luis Gil, Carlos Lagrange, and Rodriguez-Cruz.

So far, the Narvaez-ERC swap has mostly evoked lopsided negative feelings centered in New York. There's a far better chance these days that it eventually breeds mutual disgust instead, and the tide is starting to turn.