Jasson Dominguez is a talented player with the bat in his hands, but his defensive struggles will keep him from having a career with the New York Yankees.
Dominguez is a player who has been talked about ever since he agreed to a contract with the Yankees back in 2019. He drew early comparisons to all-time greats such as Mike Trout and Mickey Mantle.
Dominguez spent four years in the minor leagues before the Yankees called him up in Sept. 2023. He made his presence known immediately with his first swing as he sent the ball into the Crawford boxes for a two-run home run against former Cy Young pitcher Justin Verlander.
Dominguez continued his impressive play for his next seven games with four home runs, seven RBIs, and a .258 batting average. Unfortunately, he was scratched from the lineup in a game versus the Milwaukee Brewers on Sept. 10 with right elbow inflation. An MRI revealed Dominguez had torn his UCL in his right elbow ultimately ending his season.
There Is No Role for Jasson Dominguez
After a disappointing 2023 season the Yankees headed into the offseason with a plan to massively improve their team. The Yankees did just that with major outfield additions in Alex Verdugo, Trent Grisham, and Juan Soto. These moves left no room for Dominguez once he returned from injury.
He made his first appearance of the year as the 27th man during the Little League Classic against the Detroit Tigers on Aug. 18. Dominguez had a performance to forget as he went 0-4 with three strikeouts and hesitated on a throw home to stop the winning run from scoring. The Yankees sent him back to the minor leagues immediately after the game but called him back up on Sept. 9.
Dominguez displayed poor play on both sides of the ball with a batting average of .179, two home runs and 11 RBIs along with 19 strikeouts in just 56 ABs. He looked lost on defense seemingly every time he was out there. Whether it was in left or center field, Dominguez would take poor paths to the ball and lose it in the sky at an alarming rate. He made the postseason roster but was only given the role of being a pinch runner.
Dominguez’s Positives
After the Yankees moved on from both Verdugo and Soto, they traded for OF Cody Bellinger in 2024, which left a spot open for Dominguez to get free run in left field all season. However, during spring training Dominguez still looked lost on defense losing multiple balls in the sun, taking poor routes to the ball, and dropping it entirely on some occasions.
Despite that, Dominguez started on opening day for the Yankees — he went 0-3 and New York replaced him on defense with Trent Grisham who got a hit in his only appearance.
Unfortunately for Dominguez, Grisham kept hitting well, ultimately becoming the Yankees’ leadoff hitter. This once again left Dominguez without a chance to get everyday at bats once Giancarlo Stanton returned from injury and took over the Designated Hitter role.
Dominguez performed well during the 2025 season even with his action being less than expected. He hit for a .257 average along with 10 home runs and 47 RBIs in 381 ABs.
In the offseason, the Yankees re-signed both Grisham and Bellinger along with adding veteran OF Randal Grichuk again leaving no room for the Martian.
Dominguez majorly impressed in Spring training with a .347 batting average to go along with four home runs and 11 RBIs in just 49 ABs.
However, Yankees No. 6 ranked prospect Spencer Jones looked even better. Jones had a .357 average, six home runs and a 1.526 OPS over 13 games. Jones also brings something to the table that Dominguez doesn’t in that Jones plays defense at a high level, and with Grisham only on a one-year deal, Jones is perfectly in line to take over his job next season.
No Landing Zone for the Martian in New York
The best move for both parties would be to cut ties and trade Dominguez to a team that could give him consistent ABs at the major league level in return for a bullpen player that the Yankees need.
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