Yankees Option Chivilli to Triple-A, Reassign Lagrange to Minor League Camp

Angel Chivilli arrived in New York via a winter trade with the Colorado Rockies, the Yankees sending minor-league first baseman T.J. Rumfield to Denver as the price of admission. On Thursday, the Yankees sent him right back out the door, optioning the right-hander to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre prior to split-squad games, with beat writer Gary Phillips confirming the move.

The decision was less a verdict on Chivilli's stuff than on the reliability of it. His Grapefruit League numbers looked clean enough in isolation, but the Yankees' bullpen competition this spring has been won on consistency, not raw upside. Kervin Castro, Cade Winquest, Brent Headrick, and Jake Bird all put together more dependable spring campaigns, and when the final roster spots came up for discussion, Chivilli found himself on the wrong side of that ledger.

The gap between Chivilli's pure movement and his command has been the central storyline. That gap is precisely why Scranton makes sense right now. Working with the Yankees' pitching coaches in Triple-A, away from the pressure of a pennant race, Chivilli has space to translate elite stuff into consistent execution rather than expensive mistakes.

Later that same Thursday, following the conclusion of those split-squad games, the Yankees also reassigned right-hander Carlos Lagrange to minor league camp. Lagrange had turned heads throughout spring with a triple-digit fastball and a slider that gave hitters no comfortable answer, but the organization determined that flamethrowing talent still needed more seasoning before it was ready for the Bronx.

The two moves together sharpen the Yankees' roster picture as Opening Day draws closer. Lagrange, despite the electric arm, goes back to develop at a lower level. Chivilli heads to the RailRiders with something to prove: that the movement everyone already acknowledges can be paired with the command the Yankees need before they bring him back.