After a winter-long staring contest between the Yankees and Cody Bellinger’s camp, the sides have finally reunited on a five-year pact. It’s great news for a Yankees lineup that benefited greatly from Bellinger’s production (125 wRC+, 4.9 fWAR) in 2025, but that news isn’t quite as exciting for the Yankees’ young outfielders. With Trent Grisham (129 wRC+, 3.2 fWAR) back in town via the qualifying offer, Bellinger’s return means it will be tough for former top prospect Jasson Dominguez and current top prospect Spencer Jones to push their way into the lineup.
That might not seem like a significant concern at first glance. After all, the Yankees have only returned the same group of outfielders they worked with last year, and playing time wasn’t a substantial concern for either Jones or Dominguez then. That’s an incomplete look at the situation, however. Slugging DH Giancarlo Stanton missed the first half of the season last year due to an injury impacting both of his elbows, which created ample playing time in the first half of the season for Dominguez. Jones, meanwhile, opened the year at Double-A and wasn’t realistically on the big league radar until near the end of 2025. By the time the trade deadline had passed (Aaron Judge’s brief trip to the injured list notwithstanding), New York was forced to get creative and use Ben Rice behind the plate on occasion just to fit all their players into the lineup.
While that’s not entirely a bad problem to have, it can be challenging for a young player to develop and succeed at the big league level without consistent playing time. That could spell trouble for Dominguez, whose 2025 campaign saw him post a 103 wRC+ with ten homers, 23 steals, and 0.6 fWAR due to lackluster defense in the outfield. That’s decent enough production for a rookie, but not exactly the sort of five-tool superstar he was once lauded as. Getting closer to that ceiling will surely require plenty of in-game reps, and it’s fair to wonder if the team will have enough of those to offer him at this point without an injury occurring. That’s before even considering Jones, who slugged 19 homers in 67 games at Triple-A last year and will certainly be ready for his first taste of big league action sometime this year (if he isn’t already).
With Bellinger, Judge, and Stanton all locked into the outfield/DH mix for years to come while Grisham figures to continue getting regular reps this season, the argument for a trade is fairly clear. If the Yankees could find substantial value on the trade market, it could make plenty of sense to upgrade the infield (where Jose Caballero and Ryan McMahon figure to kick off the season as regulars on the left side), a bullpen that lost both Devin Williams and Luke Weaver to the Mets across town, or even a starting rotation that will be without Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon to open the year.
With that said, it’s unclear just how available many interesting players are at this point. The Yankees missed out on Freddy Peralta and Edward Cabrera already. Pablo Lopez and Joe Ryan are not expected to be moved as the Twins work towards competing this year. Someone like Brady Singer could still be available, but it seems unlikely that the Yankees would give up five seasons of Dominguez (never mind six of Jones) for a rental innings eater. Brendan Donovan is available, but he’s been pursued by many teams at this point. Unless the Yankees win the bidding war for Donovan or a shock trade of someone like Tarik Skubal happens, it’s unclear where the Yankees could look to move Dominguez or Jones without selling low.
Perhaps the Yankees would be best off holding onto both youngsters, at least for the time being. After all, it’s not impossible to imagine playing time opening up in the team’s outfield. Stanton, Judge, and even Bellinger have substantial injury histories, while Grisham was a bench player as recently as 2024. Bellinger is also capable of handling first base, so there are ways to squeeze another outfielder into the lineup even without sitting anyone from that group. Keeping both Jones and Dominguez in order to utilize them as trade chips come July could make sense, as more acute needs could pop up throughout the season due to injuries or other issues. On the other hand, if the team keeps both players in the fold throughout the first half, Grisham would then be only a couple of months away from free agency. At that point, the team might be best served simply holding both players for the whole season.
How do MLBTR readers think the Yankees will handle their glut of outfielders? Should they try and pull off a trade to make sure neither Jones nor Dominguez has their development stunted by a lack of MLB playing time? Or should they hold onto their depth to protect against injuries, at least until the deadline this summer? Have your say in the poll below:
Danny Tartabull, pack your bags!
Will prospect hugging Brian Cashman trade Dominguez or Jones? Gee that’s a tough one. I’m going with of course not.
The question is what do other teams feel about either of them? While Dominguez showed he has potential in the brief late original call up, heâs not been as good as advertised and his glove so far has been awful. As for Jones he not only needs to show he can hit big league pitching but he has to cut down on his strikeouts. Given the minor league pitching he faced, without discipline and hard work, I doubt it.
Neither of them has value. Heck, Red Sox fans think they can get some kind of wonderful for Duran and it ainât gonna happen. I donât understand the obsession with trading players who arenât going to bring back any value.
@Why
To say they don’t have value is kind of stupid. Cashman doesn’t control what “experts” put on their top 100 lists. To say teams don’t desire cody controlled prospects is crazy. I’m not suggesting they alone could get you Skubal but look who we traded to get Soto.
@joe
It’s hard to say that when you consider that he’s traded away so many prospects over the last two years. He moved 15-20 to get Jazz, Soto, Williams, Caballero, Ramirez, Doval, Bednar, Cruz, Rosario, Weathers, McMahon, etc. But he also held on to Rice, Dominguez, Warren, Schmidt, Schlittler, Gil, Volpe, Wells, Williams and has 4 guys on most top 100 lists in Jones, Ramirez, Lagrange, Lombard and more. Who even knew who Dillon Lewis, Brendan Jones or Marshall Toole was until they were the main piece to get Westhers and Caballero? Cashman had turned towards using prospects as currency to imprint the team vs spending cash. Give him credit for putting together a deep farm full of prospects others team wasn’t that weren’t top 100 guys.
No. As OF depth is thin. Wait… Giancarlo is an outfielder. Yeah trade him to Philly.
2 more years of Stanton (with Miami paying $10 million of that in 2026 and 2027). There is an option in 2028 but with Judge getting older and destined for DH Yankees management would need to be drug tested if Stanton’s option for that year was picked up.
Obviously I donât think it would get done for Singer but Iâd love to see Dominguez in Cincy really think a change of scenery would unlock a lot of his potential
He’s had 528 career PAs thus far and needs more.
Well, the Reds are obviously not going to give up any other starter for him.
Dominguez is still 22 years old. Heâs far from being fully developed yet.
Linked to wrong Spencer jones
This is the correct link:
baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=jon…
Send Spencer Jones back home.
Probably trading Judge. Just too expensive for the poverty Yankees.
Keep Jones in AAA till next year. Extend his window of control. Then Dominguez is your 4th OF.
when yankees fans want to manipulate service time, you know cashman has them in loops
I am not a Yankee fan. Unless you trade either for someone that will provide more value to the team, or either one of them shows they can outplay a veteran, then keeping them in the minors is the best move for the team. I don’t honestly know if stashing Jones will extend his service time but if it will that is probably what will happen.
No. They are going to need Dominguez and Jones for the long-term. Grisham is gone after this year. Bellinger can opt out after year 2 of his contract. Stanton only has 2 more years on his contract. When heâs gone, Judge will start transitioning to more of a DH than an everyday OF. So, they are going to need some young, affordable OFs to backfill these vacancies.
I still feel a Tanner Bibee for Jasson Dominguez trade makes a ton of sense for both organizations.
It would have to be Dominguez + ( … ) in order to get Bibee from CLE. Man is on a super team friendly contract through 2030 and is good for 3 WAR annually. That won’t be a cheap acquisition for anybody.
Very surprised more said opening day than the deadline.
I disagree with the idea that the Yanks NEED or SHOULD trade one or both of Dominguez or Jones. Since when is depth a bad thing? We are a team with championship hopes. How do you responsibly build a lineup devoid of contingency plans? Having the players we have is a gift, not a curse. All it takes is 1 or 2 injuries to put the guys into play. Any injury to Belli, Judge, Grisham, Rice, Wells or Stanton could easily cause players to switch positions. How dumb would Cashman look for the team to incur an injury which forces him to look to the trade market for replacements? Also, what if Grisham regressed to pre-2025 form? What if he has a great year but walks in his FA year or becomes too expensive for his post-30 years? Stanton is 2 years away from being off the books and the Yanks are only responsible for paying him $19 of his $29 mil due this year, $15 mil of his $25 mil in 2027 and nothing at all towards his $10 mil buyout if they don’t want him in 2028 ($15 mil if they want him back). What if he’s so bad in 2026 that the Yanks choose to just release him after 2026 and just eat the $15 mil instead? That idea becomes more digestible if they can replace him with a cost controlled player like Dominguez or Jones. Dominguez only turns 23 in Feb and Jones 25 in May. There is no need to rush them. In the case of Jones, he should be invited to big league camp, regardless of his performance, notified he’s going to start the year in AAA. Instruct him to work on his strikeout rate and make him FORCE himself to be called up because he’s killing it in AAA. This accomplishes two things. Gives him time to address his issues and gives us a chance to increase his perceived trade value. There’s much less of a risk of him flaming out in AAA than struggling in the bigs and then having to be demoted because he’s struggling while the Yanks are trying to make the playoffs. Keep a cool booty. Unless a REAL LEGIT IMPACT TRADE PIECE hits the market and they value either as a main component and not a “throw in” then keep them and see how it plays out. We thought we had an abundance of pitching going into the spring training and before the season started we traded away Cortez, placed Cole, Gil and Schmidt on the DL, had to put a player like Stroman in the mix and call up Will Warren and later Cam Schlittler to make major contributions last year. Let’s not repeat those mistakes.
I voted that the Yankees will hold on to both of their young outfielders through the end of 2026.
I can envision a trade with the White Sox down the road. Their greatest depth is in middle infielders, many of whom are on their active roster or could be within the next two years. The ChiSox also have some catching depth that may interest the Yankees. The White Sox least amount of organizational depth is in the outfield.
Trade Judge he’s not that good.đ
I see Judge as a guy who wants to play defense over his entire career, uber competitive and an elite athlete, I can’t see him accepting a role at DH.
I can see him at first base. Phillies moved Harper to first base after his UCL.
Unsure why the Yanks would trade from their OF group. They dont have any significant OF prospects on the farm outside of Jones and with Grisham on a one year deal, Stanton expiring at the end of ’27, both Dominguez and Jones are slated for plenty of playing time.
This Cardinals fan would accept Jones for Donovan.
Donovan for Dominguez. Who says no?
@lemay @daryl
Yanks should say no. We have Jazz at 2d, Belli/Grisham in LF and although Donovan would be an upgrade over McMahon, we agree paying this guy 2/$32 mil. And honestly, Donovan IS a better overall hitter but like McMahon he’s a lefty who can’t hit lefties (career OPS in the .600s vs lefties). He’s not a good fit unless the Card take him back in a large deal.
White Sox would gladly take Spencer Jones off your hands.
Would the Nats trade their SS for either?