{"id":538517,"date":"2026-01-26T04:40:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T04:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/538517\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T04:40:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T04:40:14","slug":"yankees-need-to-be-prospect-focused-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/538517\/","title":{"rendered":"Yankees Need To Be Prospect-Focused in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The official Major League Baseball Pipeline rankings<\/a> have recently been released, and there is noise in the New York Yankees farm system. The Yankees have a handful of prospects<\/a> to pay attention to in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Month by month, top prospect rankings shuffle back and forth. Each progression checkpoint for these prospects will project them differently and yield different values.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Yankees recently made their 2026 international prospects selections<\/a>, putting more names in the mix. At the moment, this doesn\u2019t affect MLB Pipeline\u2019s rankings, nor does it affect Baseball America\u2019s top prospects list.\u00a0<\/p>\n

George Lombard Jr still holds the top-ranked spot as per MLB Pipeline.\u00a0 Spencer Jones ranks in the top 5 on the top 30 list, but has moved down to the fourth spot. Within the list itself, there are a few names to know as spring training approaches<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Carlos Lagrange, Elmer Rodriguez, and Dax Kilby are three names to keep in mind while thinking about grassroots. These three prospects have been progressing, and originally were selected for their overall competitive profile.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yankees Number 2 Prospect, Carlos Lagrange<\/p>\n

Lagrange<\/a> is a product of the international prospect signings from the 2022 version. The right-handed pitcher is from the Dominican Republic. Since signing with the Yankees, he\u2019s taken strides in his career and development.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Out of the gate in professional baseball, Lagrange took the reins and pumped late-90s velocity with ease. He still remains consistent with this, ranging in the 97-99 mph average. The prospect has been up to triple-digits as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From 2024 to 2025, progression was recorded in the journey for one of the Yankees\u2019 top prospects. In 2024, Lagrange recorded a 6.86 ERA in only 21 innings of work. He worked within two teams in the farm system.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fast forward to 2025, Lagrange cut his ERA to 3.83 in 120 innings, posting an 11-8 record. He struck out 168 batters, walking 62. From 2022 to 2025, Lagrange earned promotion to the Double-A level, showing success while there.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lagrange earned a spot on Baseball America\u2019s top 100 prospect list, holding the 93rd spot for 2026 so far. On the MLB Pipeline rankings, he holds the 79th spot for the overall top 100 prospects. He ranks second on the Yankees\u2019 top 30 prospect ranking.<\/p>\n

His development and rise are colored by the ability to offer quality innings. Scouts predict his profile to be a starting pitcher.<\/p>\n

Right-Handed Pitcher Elmer Rodriguez<\/p>\n

Ranking right below Lagrange is Rodriguez<\/a>, residing in the number three spot of the Yankees\u2019 top 30 prospect list. Furthermore, what has driven the interest and ranking for Rodriguez is his breakout season in 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The right-hander was an original draft pick in 2021 by the Boston Red Sox. His career so far with the Yankees organization has flourished, as he\u2019s pushing the big league envelope.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rodriguez pitched across three levels of baseball in the minor leagues in 2025. From high-A to triple-A, he threw a total of 150 innings and led the entire farm system in strikeouts, with 176.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Additionally, Baseball America placed him at 59th on their initial 2026 top 100 prospects\u2019 list.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Infielder Dax Kilby<\/p>\n

Kilby<\/a> was drafted 39th overall in the first round of the 2025 MLB Draft out of Newnan High School in Georgia. The Clemson commit was a huge deal in his high school graduate year, prompting major interest from scouts; they won\u2019t be disappointed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kilby is ranked seventh among the top 30 Yankees prospects. He\u2019s a polished bat, possessing a compact swing and power capabilities. The prospect went quickly into low-A ball after signing his contract.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The prospect slashed .353\/.457\/.441 in 18 games. His overall tools are intriguing, along with his power and ability to run. Kilby is ranked 94th of 100 on MLB Pipeline\u2019s rankings.\u00a0 He\u2019s fresh into professional baseball and a huge piece moving forward in the Yankees\u2019 system.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The official Major League Baseball Pipeline rankings have recently been released, and there is noise in the New…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":538518,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2276],"tags":[5,42023,32554,61486,2107,2291,4,1586,5055],"class_list":{"0":"post-538517","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb-draft","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-carlos-lagrange","10":"tag-dax-kilby","11":"tag-elmer-rodriguez","12":"tag-george-lombard-jr","13":"tag-major-league-baseball-draft","14":"tag-mlb","15":"tag-mlb-draft","16":"tag-spencer-jones"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115959563954536288","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=538517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/538518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=538517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=538517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=538517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}