Yankees' Brian Cashman Drops Concerning Comments on Jasson Dominguez

Remember when Jasson Dominguez was a can't-miss prospect in the New York Yankees' system and was even being compared to Mickey Mantle?

That feels like it happened on a different planet, but it absolutely was a very spirited discussion for quite some time.

But then, Dominguez played his first full big-league campaign in 2025, and the early returns were discouraging, to say the least.

The 23-year-old slashed .257/.331/.388 with 10 home runs and 47 RBI over 429 plate appearances. He only hit four homers after May, and he only had 13 extra-base hits in total from June through the end of the season.

What's more, Dominguez was nothing short of an unmitigated disaster in left field, which makes you really wonder where in the world that former "five-tool player" label came from.

Dominguez was so ineffective during the second half of the season, in fact, that the Yankees benched him down the stretch.

Now, with Cody Bellinger re-signing with New York on a five-year deal and Trent Grisham back for 2026 on a qualifying offer, there really is no place for Dominguez, and trade winds are starting to blow.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman was asked about Dominguez recently and admitted that he almost sent the Dominican native down to the minor leagues last season, but opted to keep him as a bench weapon for the remainder of the year.

"He provided the chance for us to run into something off the bench, especially with his speed to go along with [Jose] Caballero,” Cashman said, via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.

Then, Cashman made a very alarming comment regarding the youngster.

"But I still think there’s some upside there," Cashman said.

Uh, some upside? For a player who was once dubbed "The Martian" because of his supposed otherworldly talent? What the heck happened?

And if we're being honest, Cashman is not doing himself any favors in trade discussions by saying he thinks Dominguez has "some" potential.

For an ex-top prospect who became a household name amongst even casual Yankees fans, that is a brutal reality check.

Clearly, Cashman is down on Dominguez, at least in terms of where he expected him to be. And so are many New York fans.

While Dominguez clearly has talent, we haven't seen this Mantle type of ability scouts were raving about when he first joined the Yankees' organization. And I'm talking about Dominguez's minor-league numbers, too.

For a player who supposedly has so much pop, Dominguez never hit more than 16 home runs in the minors. His lifetime slugging percentage in the Yanks' farm system? A very pedestrian .444.

Cashman's remarks about Dominguez demonstrate that the Yankees may have lost some faith in the young outfielder, and it remains to be seen if Dominguez is even in the Bronx for much longer.

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