New Headline: Prince Fielder Declines Yankees' All-Star Call Back
TAMPA, Fla. — It remains to be seen if Ryan Weathers, the hard-throwing lefty the New York Yankees acquired over the winter, is going to be the rotation “find” they envisioned after surrendering four prospects to the Miami Marlins for him. Another rough outing against the Atlanta Braves Friday ballooned Weathers’ spring ERA to 8.
68 for three starts, which is about the only not-so-good news out of the Yankee camp this spring. But fret not Yankee legions. For even if Weathers continues to fall short of the front office’s glowing expectations, when it comes to starting pitching, the Yankees’ future couldn’t be brighter.
For in Carlos Lagrange, Elmer Rodriguez and Ben Hess, all of whom lit up the radar guns and wowed the scouts in their brief spring outings before being shipped off to the minor league camp, the Yankees have three legitimate top-tier starting pitching prospects in all of baseball. It’s not a matter of if they will maintain their dominance to the big league level but when. The 6-7, 22-year old Lagrange has averaged 101.
5 mph in his three spring outings, which has prompted speculation that perhaps the Yankees might consider switching him to relief and add an enticing lethal weapon to their suspect bullpen. But as one baseball exec told me: “They would be crazy to do that, at least not now. An arm like that, you ride it, you don’t fool around with it.
” And even Aaron Boone, who’s been effusive in his praise of Lagrange, has talked about him strictly as a starter. Barring an injury to one of the starters, Lagrange is ticketed to start the season at Triple-A Scranton, as is Rodriguez and probably Hess. But it could be a scenario similar to what the Rays did with David Price in 2008.