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The Yankees didn’t address any of their biggest needs at the trade deadline, but they did take a big step toward fixing shortstop by calling up top prospect George Lombard Jr. and he made a spectacular debut Tuesday night in the Bronx. That and a trip around the major leagues. Let’s get to it.
I really have no idea what George Lombard Jr. can be for the New York Yankees, and I can certainly tell you I’m not going to spend any time jumping to the conclusion that he’s about to become the next Bronx legend.
Even after his spectacular major league debut Tuesday night when his first hit was a solo homer and he made several really nice plays in the field in the Yankees’ latest offensive shit show 2-0 victory, let’s take a breath while also basking in the glow.
Like all of you, I’ve been down that road before with countless “big-time” prospects who the Yankees were convinced would be great, and they never amounted to anything.
We don’t need to roll through the history, but just in the last few years, what exactly did we get for our excitement over Anthony Volpe, Jasson Dominguez, Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird, Estevan Florial, Deivi Garcia and Miguel Andujar, and maybe Spencer Jones? Yeah, we basically got nothing for that, though maybe there’s still a chance Jones can live up to the hype.
George Lombard Jr. watches his first MLB home run leave Yankee Stadium Tuesday night, part of an electrifying debut for the Yankees.
Every one of those players, we were told, was going to become a core member of Yankee teams for years to come; some of them were even supposed to become perennial All-Stars. So you’ll have to excuse me for tempering my excitement about the Yankees calling up Lombard.
That said, was it the absolute right thing to do? Yes, unequivocally, yes. I’ve been saying this had to happen for weeks because playing Volpe and Jose Caballero at shortstop was growing more and more foolish by the day. Volpe is the better
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