The Yankees’ offseason may end up circling around one player who once looked like a cornerstone and now looks more like a trade chip: Jasson Dominguez.
New York had plenty go sideways in 2026. Trent Grisham and Jazz Chisholm Jr. never found their 2025 level again, while Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton missed a huge stretch of the season on the injured list. Dominguez, though, may have taken the biggest hit of all.
The former top prospect was supposed to be pushing toward the outfield future in the Bronx. Instead, this was the year that should have given him the clearest runway yet - especially after all three of the Yankees’ Opening Day outfielders wound up on the IL - and he came up well short. He missed more than a month with a shoulder injury, then struggled badly both at the plate and in the field.
His offense fell apart. Dominguez hit .225/.267/.368 with six home runs in 222 plate appearances.
Defensively, he was charged with three errors and a Fielding Run Value of -2, per Baseball Savant. His season finished at -0.2 fWAR.
The numbers against fastballs were especially ugly. Dominguez was one of the worst hitters in the league against 4-seam fastballs, saw that pitch type more than double the amount of the 2nd highest usage thrown to him, and saw it increasingly more as the season went on. He was 2nd lowest in the league in RV/100 against…
The workload tells the same story. After setting a career high with 123 major league games in 2025, Dominguez appeared in only 57 games in 2026.
He actually played more games for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he logged 59, than he did for the Yankees. From August 4 through the end of the year, he was in 30 Triple-A games and only four big league contests.
That slide was tied to the Yankees bringing in help. The trade deadline addition of Heliot Ramos, plus Spencer Jones starting to settle in at the major league level, pushed Dominguez to Triple-A on August 4.
Even with that, the Yankees’ 2027 outfield picture is crowded enough that Dominguez may not have a path back. The team has said Jones is not locked into a starting job yet, but Aaron Judge is expected to be fully healthy by Spring Training, and he and Cody Bellinger are set for two of the three spots.
The third could go to Jones or an outside addition. Ramos, meanwhile, is projected for a platoon role.
That leaves Dominguez squeezed out unless he claims that final starting spot, and after the season he just had, that looks like a long shot. New York is trying to make the most of its World Series window, and there doesn’t appear to be much appetite for handing him another extended chance.
So even though Dominguez is under team control through 2031, the more realistic outcome may be a trade. He still has value because he’s only 23 and has four full seasons of club control left. That mix of age, experience, and roster flexibility could make him appealing to a team with an outfield opening and time to keep developing him.
That’s part of why he could be useful in a deal this winter. Reliable Yankee sources like Jack Curry have indicated the club would rather tackle its needs through trades than free agency, and a former top prospect with upside could bring back real help.
There’s no question the Yankees would rather see Dominguez become the player they expected. But with the roster built the way it is now, the better fit may be somewhere else. A change of scenery seems best for both sides: the Yankees get the upgrades they need, and Dominguez gets the playing time he needs.
In Other News...
Yankees Face A Massive Gunnar Henderson Decision With Their Future At Stake
The idea of the Yankees making a run at Gunnar Henderson has become one of the more intriguing possibilities on the board, and it makes sense why. He is already performing like a centerpiece, and with contract control through 2028, he would give New York the kind of long-term answer at shortstop that teams spend years trying to find. For a club that always has to weigh present urgency against future planning, Henderson checks a lot of boxes at once.
The catch is the price. A deal with Baltimore would likely require the Yankees to part with multiple top prospects, which is exactly the kind of move that can reshape a farm system in a hurry. The Orioles have shown a willingness to listen on trades, though not when it comes to first baseman Pete Alonso, and that only sharpens the focus on how aggressive New York wants to be. For the Yankees, the real question is whether adding Henderson now is worth the kind of prospect loss that could echo for years. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees Suddenly Have A Real Shot At An Infield Upgrade
The Yankees are at least worth watching here, because Oaklands willingness to listen on Jacob Wilson opens a door that did not seem especially wide a short time ago. The Athletics are looking to strengthen their starting pitching, and that is the kind of need New York can potentially help address if it decides to get aggressive with its pitching inventory.
Wilson is not being shopped in a rush, and the As have made clear they do not have to move him. Still, the fact that they would consider offers gives the Yankees a possible path to an infield upgrade if the right package comes together, even if nothing has been finalized and the talks remain in the early stages. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees Fans Still Feel Relief Over These Recent Departures
For a fan base that has spent plenty of time second-guessing roster moves, there is at least a little comfort in looking back at a few recent Yankees departures and feeling better about what came next. Jazz Chisholm Jr., Mark Leiter Jr., Devin Williams, Gleyber Torres, Alex Verdugo and Frankie Montas all passed through the Bronx with varying degrees of expectation, but the common thread was frustration. Some never found a consistent rhythm, some arrived with bigger reputations than results, and some simply left behind more questions than lasting memories.
The reaction from the stands has been telling, because these exits were not met with much regret. In a market that remembers both production and disappointment, the Yankees recent turnover has mostly been viewed through the lens of relief, especially when the performances never matched the hype or the role never quite fit. For a team that is always trying to balance urgency with patience, the fan response says plenty about how quickly a player can lose the benefit of the doubt in New York. [Read more 🡒]