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We are moving ever closer to the 2024 MLB trade deadline and while the weekend series against the Orioles has breathed some life into the wayward Yankees, the prospects for this flawed lineup are still dicey. There will be pressure on GM Brian Cashman to make a major move to right the ship, particularly addressing an infield that has too many unproductive players manning key roles.
The Yankees are expected to be aggressive in their attempt to win a World Series this year, and that could require a blockbuster trade—perhaps for a pitcher, perhaps for a third baseman, perhaps for a second baseman, perhaps for a first basemen. Heck, perhaps for all four.
The Yankees and Cashman will reach into the reserve of prospects in hopes of adding to a team that needs to make a run ahead of the impending free agency of star outfielder Juan Soto.
But, according to team insider Joel Sherman of the New York Post, one player who will not be on the block for the Yankees in the coming days is minor-league outfielder Jasson Dominguez, the organization’s top prospect. Instead, Sherman writes, the plan for the Yankees is to keep Dominguez and put him in as an outfield starter next season.
Yankees Could Trade One Top Young Outfielder
As Sherman put it in an article looking at the Yankees’ minor-league system, “I have sensed the Yanks have no desire to trade Dominguez, who likely steps into their starting outfield next year.”
That could leave the Yankees open to dealing away one of their other top prospects, Spencer Jones. Jones was the Yankees’ first-round pick in 2022, and though he is ranked No. 2 in the organization by MLB.com, he has had an unimpressive season at Double A Somerset, with a .237/.317/.403 slash line.
Sherman suspects that Jones could be expendable at the trade deadline.
“They drafted Jones first in 2022 hoping the 6-foot-6 Vanderbilt product could be a lefty version of Aaron Judge. … The Yanks hardly want to give up on Jones’ upside — and he does have lots of upside,” Sherman wrote.
“But if the Yankees believe they are going to sign Juan Soto long-term and project to have an outfield of Soto, Judge and Dominguez for a while, would that make Jones more expendable?
Jasson Dominguez Dealing With Repeated Injuries
Dominguez, for his part, has had a rough go of things over the last two years. He was coming back from Tommy John surgery stemming from an elbow injury he suffered last year when he suffered an oblique injury that could now cost him most of this year. In all, he has played 23 games this year, hitting .356 with a .404 on-base percentage and a .609 slugging percentage.
Still, he has massive upside.
The Yankees have been grooming Dominguez for five years now, after having signed him as a 16-year-old in 2019, when the team used a record $5.1 million of its bonus money (out of $5.4 million) to land Dominguez, a record payout.
The Athletic rated Dominguez the 13th-best prospect in MLB before the oblique injury, and the site’s Keith Law wrote of him:
“Domínguez is back … and so far he looks like the same electric, high-upside hitter he was when he reached the majors last year, well ahead of schedule. The Yankees aren’t in the same offensive straits right now that they were in last year, though, so they can afford to take it easy on him.”
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