5 exciting pitching prospects the Cardinals should target in their offseason trades

Yankees RHP Carlos Lagrange

There are three different prospects from the Yankees organization that I could have chosen for this list. The Cardinals and Yankees are uniquely equipped to pull off a major trade if they want to, in large part due to the depth of high-end pitching prospects New York has right now.

The arm I want to look at here is right-hander Carlos Lagrange, one of the "big three" Yankees pitching prospects. At 22 years old, Lagrange is expected to spend 2026 in Triple-A, so he's actually pretty close to being big league ready.

While being close to an MLB debut is nice, the Cardinals need upside first and foremost, and Lagrange has it. He boasts a big-time fastball that averages 98 MPH and touches 102 MPH when he's putting all he has into it. It's the kind of powerful fastball this new front office wants to acquire, and he has the secondaries to back it up.

Lagrange's sweeper is also a 60-grade pitch, producing a ton of swing and miss for him. The Yankees are one of the best organizations at developing sweepers, and you can see that in Lagrange. On top of that. Baseball America believes Lagrange also has the best changeup in the Yankees system, along with the best fastball, and those two pitches pair so well together. His changeup lives in the low 90s, allowing him to have an effective speed change that keeps opposing hitters off balance.

Lagrange needs to work on his control, like many big-time stuff prospects. He carries even more reliever risk than Hopkins, with many scouts believing he is destined for a bullpen role. Acquiring him as the centerpiece of a trade is risky because of that, but if he can stick as a starter, his stuff is as dynamic as anyone's in the minor leagues.

In 2025, Lagrange struck out 168 batters in 120 innings, posting a 3.53 ERA between High-A and Double-A. The proof is in the pudding so far with how good he can be on the mound, but how willing the Yankees would be to part with him remains to be seen.