The New York Yankees have optioned Jasson Dominguez to Triple-A, which should not come as much of a surprise.
The discourse surrounding Jasson Dominguez's demotion to Triple-A is indicative of New York Yankees' fans blind spots when it comes to their young players.
The Yankees sent Dominguez down on Friday, less than a week before the start of the regular season. It was a move that should not have come as a surprise to anyone.
Brian Cashman telegraphed this earlier in the offseason by essentially stating that Dominguez would start 2026 in the minors. Heck, Cashman said he almost sent him down last year.
But you know what's also not surprising? The reaction of Yankees fans.
New York Yankees outfielder Jasson Dominguez. Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images.The Bronx faithful instantly began rattling off Dominguez's Spring Training statistics as a reason for why he should have remained on the major-league roster. He slashed .325/.378/.600 with three home runs and 10 RBI this spring. No doubt, it was impressive.
But it was Spring Training.
You know who else lit it up in New York's exhibition games? Spencer Jones, who was demoted long before Dominguez.
Once the Yankees re-signed Cody Bellinger, there was never going to be space for either youngster in the starting lineup to begin 2026. Especially not with Dominguez's glaring defensive deficiencies.
The common theme is that New York made a mistake tendering Trent Grisham the qualifying offer (and yes, that was a mistake) because it's blocking Dominguez from starting. But it's not.
Dominguez is not a center fielder. He is terrible in left, so in what world was he ever going to play center?
Move Bellinger to center and put Dominguez back in left, you say? So destroy Bellinger's defensive value by have him playing a position in which he is actually below average and then put an awful defender in left field?
Make it make sense.
If anyone got the short end of the stick here, it was Jones, who absolutely can play center field and should be the eventual Grisham replacement.
The harsh reality for Dominguez is that he simply does not have a place on the Yankees long term. Not after New York handed Bellinger a five-year deal, which Yankees fans were begging for all winter.
Dominguez doesn't have a position in which he excels, and while his bat was terrific in Spring Training, he has yet to prove he can do it over the course of a 162-game campaign.
New York Yankees outfielder Spencer Jones. Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images.It's true that Dominguez won't get the chance to show it until he gets the opportunity, but that opportunity isn't coming in the Bronx. At least not right now.
To be brutally honest, the 23-year-old is more of a trade candidate than anything else at the moment, and so long as he remains a defensive liability (which seems inevitable), that will likely always be the case for the Yankees.
Dominguez never had a genuine chance of making the major-league roster, and New York would be doing him a disservice to stick him on the bench. He needs everyday reps, and he wasn't going to get that with the Yanks this season.
At this point, a trade would be best for both sides.
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