With all three Yankees outfield spots locked up in the same sequence again for 2026, the larger question looms even bigger: What happens now with young outfielders Jasson Dominguez and Spencer Jones? Now, before diving further into this question, it’s worth mentioning that the Yankees have an opening in center field beyond 2026, where Trent Grisham will again become a free agent after this season. It should also be stated that Cody Bellinger has an opt-out in the second and third years of his contract extension, and if baseball does get locked out in 2027, that opt-out will be pushed back by a year, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post.
Yankees Will Have Opening In Center Field After 2026
Taking these factors into consideration, a couple of years from now, the Yankees will definitely have an opening in center field and possibly a second opening in left field, depending on whether Bellinger opts out of his contract or not. Jasson Domínguez is a soon-to-be 23-year-old outfielder who came up in the Yankees system as a center fielder.
Still, the Yankees reportedly don’t view him as a center fielder. After acquiring players such as Alex Verdugo and Juan Soto in 2023, they had to shift the outfield alignment, which meant Jasson had to learn left field, where he’s struggled both in the regular season and during previous spring trainings.
Dominguez, nicknamed the “Martian” for his high skillset, was signed by the Yankees as a 16-year-old phenom as the top internationally ranked prospect back in 2019 for $5.1 million. He received comparisons back then to MLB greats such as “Mickey Mantle” and “Mike Trout” due to his athletic ability and hit tool.
While Dominguez has shown to be an incredible baserunner with a 28.7 sprint speed, placing him in the 84th percentile, according to Baseball Savant, that has not translated to his outfield defense in terms of reading and tracking fly balls. Dominguez in 2025 posted a -9 OAA (outs above average), which ranks in the bottom 3rd percentile amongst big league outfielders at his position, according to Baseball Savant.
GettyDENVER, CO – JULY 11: Jasson Dominguez #25 of American League Futures Team walks on there field as players warm up before a game against the National League Futures Team at Coors Field on July 11, 2021 in Denver, Colorado.
Dominguez has shown promise with the bat, but as a switch-hitter, he really struggles hitting right handed against left-handed pitching, in which he posted an underwhelming .186 batting average with just one home run and 9 RBI’s in 134 at-bats versus left-handed pitching, according to StatMuse. His career facing right-handed pitchers, however, when he’s batting lefty, is a lot more promising; at the MLB level, he’s hit .269 with 15 home runs and 49 RBI in 395 at-bats versus right-handers, according to StatMuse.
Looking at the side-by-side splits in terms of his numbers batting left-handed versus right-handed suggests he should forget switch-hitting moving forward and focus solely on batting left-handed, since that is his more dominant side. Dominguez, despite his defensive struggles and on-and-off struggles as a switch hitter, shows potential given his young age, hitting ability, and sprint speed on the basepaths. He hasn’t hit for much power, hitting just 10 home runs in 123 games in 2025, but he’s shown strides as a hitter in terms of batting for an over .270 average in June and July with an OPS over .700, according to StatMuse.
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Spencer Jones, on the other hand, has not yet appeared at the Major League Level. He’s entering his age 25 season, in which he hit 35 home runs between Double A and Triple A in 2025, 19 of those coming in Triple A, where he went on an absolute tear in which he hit for an over 400 batting average in July with 19 RBIs, 13 extra base hits, and a .871 OPS, reported MLB.com’s Rob Terranova. Defensively, Jones also showed promise in the outfield, in which he played “over 400 innings in center field in 2026 and didn’t record a single error in 84 attempts”, according to MLB.com’s Rob Terranova.
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Jones can hit for tremendous power, play excellent defense in center field in the minors, and is a plus runner. The one glaring concern is his swing and miss, in which Baseball America highlighted how he struck out in 35.3 percent of his at-bats despite the prolific power numbers he put up during the summer months for Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre in 2025. Jones has been working on cutting down on strikeouts, which he had at 36.7 percent in 2024, but a back injury at the end of July derailed his hot stretch during the 2025 season, per Baseball America.
Dominguez and Jones Are Talented But There’s No Room For Consistent Playing Time Right Now
It’s clear that both players are talented, and the Yankees could trade one of them to address an internal need, such as a starting pitcher or the bullpen. The apparent issue right now is that Jasson Dominguez is essentially a fourth outfielder on this team, and Spencer Jones is two injuries away from getting starting reps on the Yankees’ everyday roster.
However, with Ben Rice transitioning to first base, DH at-bats for Jasson Dominguez, or even a guy like Spencer Jones if he impresses in camp, could possibly open up. Giancarlo Stanton is slotted as the Yankees’ everyday DH in 2026. Still, the 36-year-old Stanton has dealt with a myriad of injuries over the years, most recently tennis elbow in both his elbows, and Stanton hasn’t appeared in over 115 games dating back to 2021.
Yankees Could Trade One Of Them Or Keep Both
All things considered, Jasson Dominguez and Spencer Jones deserve everyday opportunities. Center field opens up after 2026 when Grisham is a free agent, and the Yankees reportedly don’t view Dominguez as a center fielder, which makes sense with his previous struggles in left field. Dominguez has been playing in winter ball this offseason to try and improve his outfield defense. Spencer Jones, on the other hand, can play a defensive center field but has more boom-or-bust potential than Dominguez in terms of the power-plus-swing-and-miss in his game.
One thing is clear for the Yankees: they need to figure out which of Dominguez or Jones they like more and wouldn’t want to trade, and then figure out how to incorporate them into their long-term plans in 2026 and beyond so they can develop and hopefully be the next rising talent in the Yankees’ pipeline of young players. It’s hard to see what the Yankees plan is exactly for these two moving forward, whether that’s a trade or holding onto both.
What Do The Yankees Do With Jasson Dominguez and Spencer Jones?