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The New York Yankees reportedly aren’t looking to trade outfield prospect Jasson Dominguez despite him missing almost the entirety of the 2024 season due to injury, Joel Sherman reported for the New York Post.
According to Sherman, Dominguez will “likely” earn a starting spot in the Yankees’ outfield next season, making him one of the team’s top prospects alongside 2022 first-rounder Spencer Jones.
“Two evaluators concurred that the Yankees had Dominguez and Jones as their most protected prospects with last year’s first-round pick, shortstop George Lombard — who at 19 is playing very young at Low-A — just below that,” Sherman wrote. “The rest of the system was perceived as more available in trades.”
Dominguez, who is ranked as the Yankees’ No. 1 prospect, was working to return from Tommy John surgery when he suffered an oblique injury while playing for the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate in June. He hit .258 with four home runs in eight appearances with the Yankees last season.
Before his latest injury, Dominguez was batting .389 with two home runs and a 1.044 OPS in nine Triple-A appearances.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday that Dominguez “has got a ways to go” before rejoining the team (h/t MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch.)
According to Sherman, scouts have mentioned other Yankees prospects including catcher Agustin Ramirez, second baseman Jared Serna, and reliever Jack Neely as potential trade options.
Shortstop Oswald Peraza, outfielder Everson Pereira, and pitcher Will Warren could also potentially be considered in deals. Those are players the Chicago White Sox expressed interest in, according to Sherman, when the team reportedly spoke with the Yankees about a potential trade for pitcher Dylan Cease.
Cease ended up going to the San Diego Padres instead after the Yankees declined to include Jones as part of their offer, per USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale.
Jones’ trade value might have declined since then. The Yankees’ No. 2 prospect has hit .237 through 73 Double-A appearances, leading Sherman to say earlier this week on The Show podcast (h/t NJ.com’s Jimmy Hascup) that “other teams don’t think Spencer Jones is going to be all that great.”
That could mean dealing Dominguez would be the Yankees’ best bet of making a big trade at the deadline.
Although the Yankees have gone 8-18 over the last month and could use bullpen help before the postseason, it sounds like losing their top outfield prospect isn’t a price the team is willing to pay to stock up before July 30.
