On Friday, the New York Yankees assigned Jasson Dominguez to Triple-A Scranton before the regular season started. The team had previously expressed their intent for Dominguez to continue receiving consistent playing time. With established players in their outfield and designated hitter positions, the team believes the young prospect will benefit more from being in the minors.
Last year, Dominguez had a solid rookie season, achieving a .257 average with ten home runs and 47 RBIs over 123 games. Although there were trade rumors about the 23-year-old, he demonstrated his potential during Spring Training. In 14 games, he recorded a .325 batting average by going 13-for-40, with three home runs, ten RBIs, and three stolen bases, resulting in a .978 OPS.
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Following the announcement, fans on social media rallied behind Dominguez, expressing their dissatisfaction with the Yankees’ decision.
Here are some reactions on X:
“Cashman needs to stop ruining Jason career!” a fan exclaimed.
“This kid needs to be traded to a team that values him more. He deserves the opportunity to start everyday,” a fan said.
“They keep Volpe in the Bigs, but do this to Jason,” a fan stated.
“Let them transfer him, and don’t ruin his career,” a fan noted.
“For YEARS we heard about THE MARTIAN and how he was the next TROUT but better. The Yankees have absolutely botched this kids early career. Trade him,” a fan added.
When the offseason began, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton were the only players assured of starting in the outfield or as a designated hitter for the Yankees. The team signed Trent Grisham to a $22.025 million contract through a qualifying offer and successfully negotiated a five-year, $162.5 million contract with Cody Bellinger.
These moves relegated Dominguez to a bench utility role, which the Yankees are not pursuing. Speculation suggests that non-roster invitee Randal Grichuk might fill that spot on the active roster due to his strong performance against left-handers. Spencer Jones is another potential option for the Yankees.
Aaron Boone reveals details of his talk with Jasson Dominguez
Yankees manager Aaron Boone sought to encourage Jasson Dominguez despite his reassignment to the minors.
“One of the things I told him is that I’m proud of him,” Boone said before their Grapefruit League victory over the Orioles on Friday. “He walked into this camp with all kinds of conversation around him. It didn’t affect anything in the way he carried himself, day in, day out, the way he worked.”
Boone also mentioned that Dominguez could be called up as needed.
“As talented a player as he is right now, there’s still so much more for him to get to,” Boone said. “It’s a crazy game. He could be back before you know it. And the one thing I do think is, he’ll impact our club in a way this year.”
Dominguez has played in 53 games for Triple-A Scranton, achieving a .325 batting average with seven home runs and 35 RBIs, along with an .886 OPS.
Edited by R. Nikhil Parshy
