What does the future of the Yankees outfield look like?
Dayne Huber
3/19/2024
What does the future of the Yankees outfield look like?
We saw some of the Yankees’ best minor-league talent on full display in the spring breakout series. We saw terrific pitching and outstanding young hitters. Spencer Jones, of course, stole the show with two home runs, but the most impressive part was beating out an infield single.
He looks like a star. We saw another great display of the Yankees’ prospects, with Brock Selvidge, George Lombard, Augustin Ramirez, and Henry Lalane
all performing at an elite level. Still, all those guys are a year or more away and a part of a different conversation.
A particular top prospect was not displayed in the game, and everyone is forgetting about him, Jason Dominguez. How many guys can say they started game in centerfield at 20 years old? I believe many people are forgetting how good Jason Dominguez is. He is far ahead of schedule and will be a big part of this team this year. Let me make this very clear: I do not want to rush Jason Dominguez; I do not want him to do one thing outside of his rehab until he’s 100%. The minute that kid gets the OK from his doctors, I want him and AA getting used to playing in live games. Then send him to AAA for 5-10 games, and then I want them back to the Bronx. People still forget Jason Dominguez is an elite prospect, even though he’s hurt. Dominguez is the number one prospect in the Yankee system, ahead of Spencer Jones.
I love Spencer Jones and Jason Dominguez, and they need to be a big parts of the Yankees future. They should be the big pieces of a new young core that includes Soto, Wells and Volpe. You could see a lineup of Dominguez leading off, Soto batting second, Judge batting third, and Jones batting fourth for the next four or five years. That’s two of the better hitters already in the game in Judge and Soto and two of the better prospects in baseball in Dominguez and Jones. You have a great eye and approach at the plate from both sides from Dominguez. Dominguez also has elite speed and could be a perennial 40-stolen base threat. Then you have Soto, who gives you an elite OBP, power, and someone who knows how to punish a mistake. Then you have a guy I consider the best hitter in baseball, Aaron Judge. He’s just the best hitter in baseball, and you put guys on base in front of Judge you will never have to worry about how many runs he’ll drive in. Batting 4th, you have Spencer Jones, another lefty, so three guys in your top four can hit from the left side, which is what you want at Yankee Stadium. Jones is also a guy who will be very difficult to turn a double play on because of his premium speed. He gets down the line so fast he’s going to beat out a lot of balls, as we saw in the breakout game, that most other guys would not be able to. Jones has track star speed, and you usually do not get that in the middle of the order anywhere. While it’s still young in Jones’s career, we need to see him continue what he’s shown this spring at AA. He’s made some huge adjustments, and if those adjustments stay, he could be an absolute monster at the MLB level. The most impressive thing to me this spring is the complete 180 with his plate discipline and bat-to-ball skills. He’s lowered his K% from over 30% last year down to 12.5% so far this spring, and he didn’t have a single swing and miss in the first 100 pitches he saw in games.
That was the good. Here is the the bad. Alex Verdugo, Trent Grisham, and Stanton are on this roster. With the current outfield depth, if they stay healthy, it’s hard to see a place where Dominguez or Jones could break in without some big trade. I don’t know how the Yankees work that out, but they will do everything possible to figure it out. Being an elite defensive centerfielder, Jones may have improved his chances of getting up earlier this year because Aaron Judge is already experiencing wear and tear issues in the middle of spring training. The other thought is that Jones could hit so well in AA that he could force the Yankees’ hands. He’s made some huge adjustments already from last year. His play could be so good he could force his way up, and honestly, it’s not out of the question.
I will say this once and let everybody know the Yankees must resign Juan Soto. As elite as I know, Spencer Jones and Jason Dominguez can be, you can’t replace Juan Soto. Let’s assume Soto signs a massive extension and is part of this team. You have Judge, the captain. He’s still a huge part of this team. You have Jason Dominguez, who is still an elite prospect and will be a significant factor in this team in the future. Then you have Jones, who may be the best defender of all four outfielders, and the question becomes how do you keep all four players in the lineup on a consistent basis. The most obvious path would be to DH those guys and move them around. Everybody gets some time in the outfield. Everybody gets some time at DH, and hopefully, everybody stays healthy. The problem is that the Yankees still have a massive clog at DH in Stanton. If Stanton does not perform, this will likely be his last year with the Yankees, one way or another. It would be a lot of money to eat. Making a trade work for Stanton would take a lot of work with the amount of money he owed and his full no-trade clause. Still, they’ll likely end up doing one or the other if Stanton has another season hitting around .200.
Another option gaining traction in Yankees circles would be putting Spencer Jones in a hybrid role, akin to Cody Bellinger and his days with the Dodgers. He rotated between 1st base and center field and played extremely high-caliber defense. We also know gifted Spencer Jones is athletically in center field, and Jones has publicly said 1st base wasn’t his best position. With work, he could become more than passable at 1st base in an effort to keep him in the same lineup as Judge, Soto, and Dominguez.
I don’t know how they could do it, but if you put those four in the same lineup together for the next 7+ years, you’ll see a lot of extraordinary things from a group of talent like we’ve never seen. It could be special, but these are prospects, so we must temper our expectations. One thing is for sure: this is the best and deepest farm system the Yankees have ever had, and Jones and Dominguez are the crown jewels.