A Yankees-Rockies trade for a sneaky upgrade in the lineup

The New York Yankees need offensive help desperately. Across their 12 players with over 100 plate appearances, just three of them have an OPS+ above 100, Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, and Giancarlo Stanton. Stanton is still on the injured list for the foreseeable future.

Joining Stanton on the injured list is the team's primary catcher, Jose Trevino. This loss further shows the offensive hole that they have at the position that is being manned by Trevino and Austin Wells.

Luckily for the Yankees, they could find a solution to their catching problem by way of the Colorado Rockies.

MLB insider Bob Nightengale confirmed that the Rockies will be making their starting catcher available ahead of the trade deadline.

"The Colorado Rockies are making catcher Elias Diaz and starting pitchers Austin Gomber and Cal Quantrill available at the deadline, but infielder Ryan McMahon is staying put," Nightengale wrote.

Diaz will likely draw an aggressive market, as he's one of two or three catchers on the market that could start for a contending team. The supply for catchers is low in the current market, so the Yankees would need to act fast here.

A Yankees-Rockies trade to upgrade New York at catcher

First thing's first, Diaz won't be the monumental upgrade that can change the course of the season. He would simply be adding a catcher that can produce offensively while also not being a liability with baserunners the way that Trevino has proved to be.

And the deal would be rather cheap, all things considering.

There are two ways this trade could go in the long run. The first is that Carlos Lagrange figures out his command and dominates professional baseball for the next ten years. He has all the tools to do that. The second is that Lagrange never finds his command enough to compete. He wouldn't make it to the big leagues if he doesn't figure this out and the Yankees could get a steal by sending him to Colorado for their catcher.

Let's get into who Carlos Lagrange is though.

Lagrange, 21, is a 6-foot-7 pitcher with an electric arm. His fastball is explosive, routinely running up to 100 MPH. Given his size and extension, it will play even heavier than the radar indicates. His slider is also a plus pitch, but he basically remains a two-pitch pitcher at this point. His worst quality is his command, but given his electric arm, all he needs to do is find the zone consistently.

This is a high-risk, high-reward move for the Rockies. They could be dumping off their All-Star catcher for a pitcher that may never make the big leagues. They could also be acquiring an electric arm for a rental piece that they don't plan on extending.

For the Yankees, though, this upgrade would be cheap enough to be an obvious move to make.