It was honestly only a matter of time.
Late Friday afternoon, the Yankees optioned former super-prospect Jasson Domínguez to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, among a flurry of roster moves. Once the Yankees signed Randal Grichuk as their fourth outfielder this move seemed inevitable. Even before that, it seemed unlikely El Marciano would start the season in the majors, given the Yanks’ need for a right-handed hitting outfielder and Jasson’s struggles from that side of the plate.
He’s not the only player being moved out as Opening Day nears. Kenedy Corona, who had himself a nice camp with a couple home runs and a keen eye at the plate, is headed to minor league camp, along with a couple other folks, and a couple others join Domínguez heading to Triple-A.
Advertisement
But the story here is obviously The Martian. To his credit, this is no indictment of his spring. He’s been a monster at the plate and, given the lack of Discourse About His Defense on social media, my impression is he hasn’t been a disaster in left field.
This comes down to a roster crunch and, honestly, the move to Triple-A might be best for Jasson. The Yanks needed a fourth outfielder who could hit right-handed pitching, which he’s been unable to do. And even if he made the team to start the season, it doesn’t do a single thing for his development to play sporadically for the Yankees.
This is still only his age-23 season and he’s lost basically two full seasons of development and reps. First, COVID-19 wiped out the 2020 minor league season, then he missed most of 2024 after undergoing Tommy John surgery with an internal bracing on his right elbow in September 2023.
Factoring all that in, Domínguez, despite seemingly having been around forever, has a grand total of 759 plate appearances above Double-A. Sitting on the Yankee bench seems highly unlikely to help him And, given the way injuries always rear their ugly heads, it’s still very probable we’ll see Jasson in the Bronx at some point in 2026.