Yankees GM discloses plan for $800K outfielder amid defensive struggles

The New York Yankees have trusted Jasson Dominguez as their third outfielder for the 2025 MLB season beside Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger. The organization's #1 prospect has played most of his professional career in center field. He has been developed by the Yankees since last season to become their primary left fielder after their Alex Verdugo experiment didn't go as planned.

Jasson Dominguez had a rough start in Spring Training, where he found it difficult to adapt to the positional change. After initial hiccups like running wrong routes and losing the ball in the sun, Dominguez, who is signed to an $800,000 one-year contract, has had more error-free games this month.

Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman states that Dominguez's development is a work in progress and the more time he is given, the more normalized his in-game defense would become. Appearing on the MLB Network Radio, he said:

"I feel like what you're watching now is a better version than what you would have watched in late February. So ultimately, I think the bat's coming along really well, despite, obviously again, he's not a finished product, and then the defensive side, as well as he continues to get used to a new position.

"So I think the longer runway you get with them, the better version of that you'll see in the less eyebrow raising that you just referenced, that you experience on your end. We expect that to dissipate."

Like his defense, Dominguez's time at the plate also had a rough start this spring. But Cashman's comments come after a strong stretch of three games that has seen the 22-year-old go 4-for-10 in his three games, earning 10 bases and improving his average to .256 with .273 for the month of March.

Aaron Boone discusses starting Jasson Dominguez in left field on Opening Day

As per Aaron Boone's latest comments, Dominguez has improved enough to get the nod at LF. Before the Yankees' game against the Detroit Tigers last Thursday, Boone confirmed that barring any injuries, Jasson Dominguez will be in left field on Opening Day against the Milwaukee Brewers on the 27th of this month.

“I’d like to think so, yeah, but we’ll see. We’re two weeks away. So important days for him still getting those reps and continuing to get that experience. But there’s no reason in time he should be really good.”

If the Dominican doesn't live up to his expectations, then Boone and the management could switch either Judge or Bellinger to left field and bring in Trent Grisham and Oswaldo Cabrera into the lineup as the third OF.