Yankees’ Brian Cashman breaks down ongoing outfield position battle

The Yankees beat the Blue Jays 5-1 on Saturday at George M. Steinbrenner Field, but it was Friday’s 17-5 demolition of the Twins that brought up interesting questions about the fourth outfield spot.

Switch-hitter Jasson Dominguez smacked three hits with a homer and three RBIs across four at-bats in Friday’s win, staking his claim to be part of the 2026 outfield. This spring, Dominguez is hitting .417/.429/.833 with one homer and five RBIs over four games. Those aren’t just solid numbers. Those are “how are you not playing every day” numbers.

The consensus is that Dominguez will start in Triple-A to get everyday at-bats while the Yankees have their starting outfield locked in. Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, and Trent Grisham will maintain their starting positions. But things change quickly, as GM Brian Cashman reminded reporters before Saturday’s win.

Cashman Keeps the Door Open

“He’s taking his reps and trying to push himself in the mix,” Cashman told the New York Post before the Yankees’ 5-1 win over the Blue Jays. “Clearly the everyday spot’s not there, with [Trent] Grisham and [Cody] Bellinger and [Aaron] Judge and [Giancarlo] Stanton, currently. But you know how things change really quickly, so all he can do right now, him and [Spencer] Jones, as well as [Randal] Grichuk and anybody else, is put themselves in a position for us to take notice and we’ll evaluate what opportunities exist at the end of camp and make calls.”

That’s a lot of words to say “we have no idea what we’re doing yet,” but it’s honest. Things do change quickly. Bellinger is already dealing with a back issue. Grisham has never been an ironman. Stanton is Stanton. The idea that this group stays healthy for six months is optimistic.

Spencer Jones Also Making Noise

Then there’s Spencer Jones, who is putting together a spring that makes you wonder how the Yankees are going to bury him in the minors again. Jones is hitting .300/.417/1.200 with three homers, six RBIs, a 16.7% walk rate, and a 33.3% strikeout rate. He’s going to strike out a lot, but he’s also going to demolish baseballs.

The Yankees seem content to let both Dominguez and Jones marinate in Triple-A, banking on an opportunity presenting itself during the season. That’s reasonable from a development standpoint. You don’t want either player sitting on the bench. You want them playing every day.

Enter Randal Grichuk

Right now, the Yankees might roll with Grichuk as their right-handed bench bat. Grichuk was acquired in free agency recently, and he provides veteran stability, solid defense, and proven production. He won’t wow anyone, but he won’t embarrass himself either.

The Yankees have a surplus of outfield talent right now. They just don’t have enough spots available to give everyone the playing time they deserve. That’s a good problem to have until it becomes a bad one. If Dominguez keeps mashing and Jones keeps launching moonshots, the noise will get louder and the pressure will build on the front office to make a difficult decision.

For now, Dominguez and Jones are doing everything they can to make the decision harder. Three-hit games with homers get noticed. So do tape-measure shots that clear everything in sight. Cashman might be playing it safe with his public comments, but privately, he has to be thrilled that both players are forcing the issue. Competition breeds excellence, and the Yankees have plenty of it right now in the outfield. Nobody is making this easy on the front office.

Spring training is supposed to answer questions. Instead, it’s creating more of them. And honestly? That’s not the worst problem to have when you’re trying to win a championship.