Yankees' Spencer Jones Trade Buzz is an Absolute Travesty

Look, I understand that no player is ever untouchable, but Spencer Jones should be as close as it can get for the New York Yankees.

Unless the Yankees are receiving a phone call from the Chicago Cubs about Pete Crow-Armstrong or something of the sort, Jones should not be involved in any trade buzz.

Especially for someone like Steven Kwan.

I'm sorry, but the idea of trading Jones, a potential 40-home run threat with the ability to steal 30-plus bases, for a marginal All-Star is a travesty.

Yet, we've heard Jones' named tossed around in trade speculation here in the very early stages of the MLB offseason.

I get that Jones is not the greatest center fielder in the world. He has some difficulty tracking fly balls, and he certainly does take some awkward routes. But that is not a justification for giving up on him so soon.

For one, Jones will probably move to right field at some point in the near future. Aaron Judge, who turns 35 in April and has a very checkered injury history, seems destined to replace Giancarlo Stanton as the Yankees' de facto DH relatively soon.

Once that occurs, New York will almost definitely shift Jones over to the corner and then focus on getting a defensive wiz to play center.

Heck, depending on what the Yankees do with Stanton (personally, I think they should keep him for 2027), that could happen as soon as this winter. After all, we've already heard New York connected to a trade for Jacob Young.

Jones absolutely has a future in the Bronx, and the Yanks would be foolish to truncate it.

The 25-year-old flashed tremendous potential in 2026, batting .389 with a 1.107 OPS against left-handers and hitting .340 with runners in scoring position. He also posted an .882 OPS in high-leverage situations.

With that short right-field porch at Yankee Stadium, Jones has the chance to hit 50 homers with his prodigious power. He is also an incredibly smart baserunner and has the top sprint speed on the team.

Yes, Jones has a big strikeout problem. He likely always will. But he has enough patience at the plate to mitigate his whiffs with walks, and given his power potential, you deal with the strikeouts. Just like the Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals did with Adam Dunn.

Again, no one is untouchable, but the Yankees shouldn't even consider moving Jones unless a generational talent becomes available. And I don't see that happening this winter.