00:00It's a drive by Derry Dawson, Jeff Chisholm goes deep.
00:09We're at the part six of our series, going position by position on the Yankees.
00:15We've covered the entire infield now, catch a first base, second base, shortstop, third base.
00:22There's videos, the New York Post sports YouTube page.
00:27Please visit us at nypost.com, go to the sports section, Post Plus, please become a member.
00:35You get stuff like this, hopefully, and you enjoy it.
00:38We're up to the outfield, and I think the outfield is really a question about Spencer Jones.
00:43But before we get there, because I think this is intertwined with Jones, you've got to think about two important
00:49issues.
00:50Cody Bellinger can make himself a free agent as a player opt-out after both 2027 and 2028.
00:57So you have to think about, is he going to be with the team long term?
01:01And you also have to consider that Aaron Judge turns 35 in April, and he's coming off a season where
01:08he had two injuries, calf and rib,
01:12where there wasn't some traumatic run into the wall, gigantic swing moment where he got hurt.
01:19And I do think you probably have to begin to worry with Judge at this age and at his size.
01:24Is there some trajectory like Giancarlo Stanton, where he's hurt a lot and could benefit from being a DH more
01:33regularly?
01:34Well, I just described a situation where in the near future, the Yankees could need a left fielder and a
01:39more regular right fielder.
01:41So Spencer Jones perhaps fits into that in the long-term plan, and you want to kind of keep him
01:48around, especially if you think he's really good.
01:50And I sense the Yankees think he's really good.
01:53But the issue for 2027 is really a center field issue.
01:58The Yankees almost certainly aren't bringing Trent Grisham back.
02:02He's a free agent, and he's likely to get out into the marketplace.
02:07So I think this is really a question of, do they just live with the outfield that they can play
02:14right now, if you think about it?
02:16They've got Bellinger, Jones, and Judge.
02:19That would be their main starting three.
02:21They have Elliott Ramos to hit against lefties.
02:25They could ask Jose Caballero, and they should ask Jose Caballero to be part of this outfield group
02:31and try to play some center field in the winter, work at it, et cetera, to give them some depth.
02:39And they still have Jason Dominguez in the minor league.
02:42I know everybody's down on him right now, but he has one option left.
02:46We'll get into it in a bit if he should be a trade candidate or not.
02:50But at least for now, you could, in theory, have him sitting in the minor leagues.
02:55And so the question becomes, what do you think of Spencer Jones?
02:58It was certainly an interesting appetizer.
03:01After he came up in late July for the third and last time, he became a really good player, especially
03:08hitter.
03:09The numbers against left-handers, it was not a dramatic number of at-bats, but it was not zero.
03:16And he handled himself very well against lefties.
03:18Why didn't he handle himself as well against righties?
03:22There were homers, 11 of them.
03:24There were 10 steals.
03:25He was a double-double player in just a couple of months of play.
03:29I think you can see a lot more of that.
03:32The projection I keep putting on him is, what if he were Adam Dunn, for those of you who remember
03:37it,
03:38but with the ability to steal bases, athleticism, and the capability to go out in the field and play well?
03:46If you remember, Dunn was a high-strikeout, high-walk, high-homer guy.
03:52And I think that that's potential for Spencer Jones as well.
03:56But there's also the downside on Spencer Jones, and the Yankees have to factor that in as they're thinking about
04:02this team moving forward,
04:03which is, what if he's just Joey Gallo in the sense that the swing and miss is so great that
04:10he becomes unplayable?
04:11Now, I will say for Jones, he did something early on that Gallo never did, which was he was comfortable
04:17here.
04:18He played well for a rookie.
04:20He didn't seem overwhelmed by all this.
04:23But the other issue is he just didn't play well on defense, and that wasn't just center field.
04:28There was an uncertainty and tentativeness to the stuff he did.
04:32Was that first-year jitters, or is there more going on and he's going to be an average or less
04:39-than-average outfielder?
04:40You don't want that in center field for sure.
04:43So the question is, do the Yankees do something to create some counter for it?
04:49I think that they would be best off, even if Jones were a capable center fielder, finding a right-hand
04:55hitting caddy who is a good center fielder.
04:58I'm always afraid to throw out names because it seems I'm saying there's something afoot.
05:03I'm just throwing out names of people I would keep an eye on, as opposed to that I've heard that
05:09they're available or anything.
05:10But, for example, Matt Verling with the Tigers is entering his walk year.
05:15Are the Tigers tendering him a contract?
05:17If they do, is he an available player?
05:19He's no star, but he can hit lefty pitching.
05:22He can play center field, and he has the value.
05:24He can play just about any place on the diamond.
05:27You know, Henry Bolt with the A's last year.
05:32I really like Jake Mangum, who was once a Met farmhand.
05:35He's with the Pirates now.
05:38The Yankees have had interest in Brenton Doyle previously.
05:42He got traded to the White Sox.
05:43He had a very bad year.
05:45Do the Yankees still think that he can hit lefty pitching and play the heck out of center field when
05:51called upon?
05:52You know, would the White Sox trade him?
05:56Those are questions to ask.
05:59You know, do you want to get involved with Luis Robert Jr., who's a free agent?
06:03The Yankees considered him last offseason.
06:07You know, and that might have been the way they turned if they didn't re-sign Bellinger and Grisham hadn't
06:16accepted the qualifying offer.
06:19He's an incredibly talented, but an incredibly frustrating player.
06:24He just doesn't stay healthy, and he has some inability to kind of play consistently well over a period of
06:30time.
06:31But he's certainly an interesting guy you would have to consider out in the marketplace.
06:37So, you know, that's a way to think of it.
06:40I'll throw out one other name because I know the Yankees have always liked the player, and it's Washington's Jacob
06:45Young.
06:46The Yankees have talked about him before, but Washington should rightfully put a high price on him.
06:54He's a very good defender.
06:56Last year, for the first time, he really hit lefty pitching well.
07:00He's got a lot of team control.
07:02But we do know the Nationals and the Yankees have the ability to make a trade.
07:06They did one last August at the trade deadline for Luis Garcia Jr.
07:12So, it's just a name that I know they've liked in the past.
07:16What else do we have to think about here?
07:18You know, it's pretty simple.
07:20Aaron Judge has played 148 games five times in his career.
07:25He's finished fourth, second, and first three times for the AL MVP in those seasons.
07:30When he plays, he's a great player, and now the Yankees just have to think about, is there ways to
07:36preserve him better?
07:38Was last year a bit aberrational in two kind of quirky injuries?
07:43Or is this now part of the portfolio moving forward, and the Yankees have to, you know, think about what
07:49it means to play judge less, play him less in right field?
07:53It's part of the outfield picture and part of the decision-making.
07:57And as long as Stanton is around, it's hard to put somebody into the DH lot.
08:02You've got Stanton, you've got Rice, you've got Luis Garcia Jr.
08:07You know, some of this will clarify.
08:09Stanton doesn't often make it through a full season healthy.
08:12Garcia is a free agent after 2027.
08:15But the Yankees have the grandest plans for 2027.
08:18They're not just going to throw it away.
08:19So, you've got to put the best team possible on the field.
08:23And why don't we end on Dominguez?
08:25Look, I think that he has shown us with how bad his defensive instincts are, and how often the attention
08:35to finer details could get away from him, that this probably isn't going to work in New York.
08:40On the other hand, he isn't even 24 yet.
08:43He's a switch hitter.
08:45He showed he could hit right-handed better.
08:48I still think there's potentially a regular 20 homer, 20 steal in the same season guy there.
08:55And if I were a smaller market team in need of a bat, and I had 500 plate appearances to
09:01just see it and see if it actually flourishes, I would go ahead and take a shot at it.
09:06And if I were the Yankees, if I could answer by using either Dominguez or Dominguez as part of a
09:13package, you know, late inning relief, a third baseman, or that center field type, right-hand hitting center field type,
09:21I would definitely think it's time for Jason Dominguez, that experiment, to come to a conclusion.
09:30It didn't go in the Martian way perfect.
09:33Perfect.
