Yankees’ Jasson Dominguez is hanging on to the roster by a thread

I’m going to say something that would have sounded like blasphemy two years ago: Jasson Domínguez is no longer a cornerstone of the New York Yankees‘ future. He is a distressed asset hanging onto a roster spot by a thread. The narrative of “The Martian” arriving to save the franchise has been replaced by the cold reality of a player who is statistically lost without a platoon advantage and defensively unplayable in the cavernous Bronx outfield.

This doens’t mean he can’t become a great player, but it does mean he’s very far from that right now.

With Trent Grisham and Cody Bellinger locking down center and left field, Domínguez enters Spring Training not as a starter, but as a man fighting for his life against Spencer Jones. And if I’m betting on who wins that fourth outfield job, I’m not putting my money on the guy with the 6th percentile glove.

The Metrics Are Screaming “Liability”

We need to stop evaluating Domínguez on hype and start evaluating him on the data, which is frankly alarming. Last season, his defense fell off a cliff (to be fair, he started at the bottom). He ranked in the 3rd percentile for Range (OAA) and posted a 6th percentile Fielding Run Value. He has a cannon of an arm (92nd percentile Arm Strength), but it doesn’t matter because he can’t get to the ball. In left field at Yankee Stadium, that is a death sentence.

Offensively, the picture isn’t much better. While he hit 10 homers, his underlying metrics suggest he was lucky to do even that. He sat in the 24th percentile for Expected Batting Average (xBA) and the 21st percentile for Expected Slugging (xSLG). We are looking at a switch-hitter who has become a “lefty-only” bat, completely neutralized when he steps into the right side of the box. That isn’t a superstar; that’s a platoon player.

Spencer Jones Is the “Stadium Fit” We Ignored

The Yankees are setting the stage for a showdown, and Spencer Jones holds the aces. Unlike Domínguez, Jones is a defensive savant who covers ground like a gazelle, a necessity in the massive left field/or center of Yankee Stadium. Jones brings elite speed and defense immediately, while Domínguez gives you… well, questions.

If Jones beats him out—and I believe he will—Domínguez becomes a redundancy. You cannot stash a 22-year-old former top prospect on the bench as a defensive liability. His value rots every day he isn’t playing.

Brenden Kuty Is Right: It’s Time to Sell

Brenden Kuty of The Athletic recently posed the question that Brian Cashman needs to answer immediately:

“But at this point in his career, the former top prospect likely would be better served by playing everyday in the majors. That was the Yankees’ plan for him last year until Grisham proved he could be an everyday threat at the plate, eating into Domínguez’s playing time. Would another team consider now the right time to “buy” on Domínguez in exchange for help the Yankees may need elsewhere?”

This is the hard truth. Domínguez still has name value, but that currency is depreciating fast. If the Yankees can flip him now for a high-leverage arm or a piece that actually fits the 2026 puzzle, they have to pull the trigger. Keeping him as a disgruntled fourth outfielder is a disservice to the player and malpractice for the roster. The Martian has landed, and it turns out he might not be from this world—or this team—much longer.