Yankees Once Again Linked to Trade for Intriguing Outfielder

The New York Yankees' outfield appears pretty crowded at the moment. Cody Bellinger, Spencer Jones and Aaron Judge are the starters, and Heliot Ramos is off the bench.

But could the Yankees still shake things up?

While Jones is absolutely a key piece to New York's future, he is probably more suited for a corner outfield role than center field. Judge, meanwhile, might have to spend more time at DH next season to stave off injury, and Ramos is a terrible defender.

Taking that into consideration, the Yankees could look to add another outfielder this winter, and one name that continues surfacing in trade speculation is Jacob Young.

The Washington Nationals center fielder evidently caught New York's attention during the middle of the 2026 campaign, but no deal was consummated.

However, and MLB scout has told Yanks Go Yard that Young still represents a good fit for the Yankees given their need for a true defender in center.

Young is not much of an offensive threat. He slashed just .252/.318/.390 with 10 home runs and 50 RBI over 471 plate appearances this past season, and he owns a lifetime .652 OPS.

In fact, back in 2025, Young managed a paltry .583 OPS across 364 trips to the dish.

Defensively, however, the 27-year-old is elite, having registered 11 outs above average this year. The season prior, Young totaled 14 outs above average, and he was a plus-20 in 2024.

Clearly, Young is an elite defensive outfielder, and while he has exclusively played center field throughout his big-league career, he also surely could shift to the corners if needed.

Young is under club control through 2029, so if New York did acquire him, it would have him for the next several campaigns.

The former seventh-round pick seems like a perfect fourth outfielder for the Yankees, but acquiring him would probably force the team to re-route Ramos elsewhere.

Considering that Ramos batted just .198 with a .688 OPS in 38 games with New York this past year, that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

Of course, the question is how much Young would actually cost the Yanks given that the Nationals do not have to be in any sort of rush to move him.

Because of Young's less-than-stellar offense, you wouldn't think he would be too expensive, and the Yankees were able to pry Luis Garcia Jr. away from Washington for virtually nothing back at the MLB trade deadline (which may be a hint that New York should sell high on Garcia now).

It will certainly be interesting to see if New York decides to make a push for Young in the coming months.