Yankees Reassigning Rookie Star is a Mistake

The New York Yankees are going to make some tough calls for Opening Day, but it does feel like the dynamic starter earned a spot on the Opening Day roster.

Feb 27, 2026; Fort Myers, Florida, USA; New York Yankees pitcher Carlos Lagrange (84) throws a pitch against the Minnesota Twins in the fourth inning during spring training at Lee Health Sports Complex/Hammond Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

The New York Yankees roster is rounding out more and more with Opening Day right around the corner. Another player didn't survive this next round of roster cuts, and this time, it's the dynamic rookie Carlos Lagrange.

Lagrange broke in, throwing 103 MPH from the moment pitchers and catchers reported, blowing triple digits by Aaron Judge before he left for the World Baseball Classic. Lagrange ended up finishing spring training with a .66 ERA with 13 strikeouts in 13.2 innings pitched.

His command has been just as impressive as his ability to dominate hitters, too. With those strikeouts, Lagrange also had four walks.

Whether this was the right decision or not will play out throughout the season. It doesn't hurt that Lagrange will be able to develop and move up through the minors naturally, which was probably the plan from the start, but does Ryan Weathers really deserve a spot in the rotation over him?

Mar 19, 2026; Dunedin, Florida, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Ryan Weathers (40) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at TD Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

While Spring Training results are not the be-all end-all, Weathers allowed 16 earned runs in 12.1 innings pitched. The 17 strikeouts to 3 walks ratio was impressive, but given Lagrange's dominant nature in the short sample size he pitched in, if things were based on merit, it should have gone to the youngster. It's clear the Yankees went with Weathers because he's more seasoned at the big league level, whereas Lagrange has only 78.1 innings at AA.

A Tough Call

According to manager Aaron Boone, it was a tough call to reassign Lagrange to the minors. It wasn't a decision he thought he'd have to make.

“He made it a difficult decision,” Boone said, according to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. “Coming into this, I wouldn’t have even thought there was a decision. He’s definitely got everyone’s attention. I love where he’s at. I would not be surprised if he is impacting us early, middle, later part of the season. “I can just tell you, we’re all very excited about his continued development and what we think he could mean to our team at some point.”

Early Call Ups

While Lagrange's development may have been in mind for the decision, it is important to note that, after last year, calling up a player with minimal minor league experience isn't as much of an outlier anymore.

For the Yankees themselves, Cam Schlittler burst onto the season with minimal experience at AAA. He pitched 85.1 innings at AA, then just had 25.1 at AAA. His introduction to the big leagues was more out of necessity, though, and he wasn't even an early call-up.

Another instance of a young player being called up with minimal experience by traditional standards, whom the Yankees are very familiar with, was Trey Yesavage. Yesavage, also not an early-season call-up, had only 98 minor league innings after being drafted in 2024.

Oct 29, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Trey Yesavage (39) celebrates with Toronto Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk (30) in the dugout after the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during game five of the 2025 MLB World Series at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

Of those 98 IP, 17 were at AAA. Yesavage had 14 innings in the regular season, but he ended up being one of the league's best postseason pitchers and was a big part of the Blue Jays' nearly winning the World Series.

Of course, in the case of Lagrange, this could be another ugly instance of a team manipulating a player's service time. That could be something the Yankees have in mind with him, given a lockout looming and one of the few ways they can salvage losing a year of control. In past years, it felt like a slam dunk to bring up someone like Miguel Andujar after a great camp, but he came in later in the season when they had another year of control.

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