We're only a little over a week into spring training, and controversy is already brewing among New York Yankees fans regarding the team's young outfielders.
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The first component is newcomer Juan Soto, acquired in an offseason blockbuster trade with the San Diego Padres. The sample size is extremely small, but he's crushing the ball so far, and he seems to be very excited to be a Yankee.
Juan Soto is 5/7 with 3 homers and 2 doubles so far this spring.
— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) March 3, 2024
Meanwhile, youngster Spencer Jones, who stands at 6-foot-7 and is hailed as a "lefty Aaron Judge," is also doing very well at age 22 in his first big-league spring training. He's hitting .455 with an OPS (on-base plus slugging rating) of 1.265 — also over a small sample size — and looks really solid in the outfield.
And although he's not active right now, Jasson Domínguez has received the most hype of any Yankees prospect in recent memory. He dazzled in a short MLB stint last year as he hit four homers in eight games, including one against Justin Verlander in his first-ever at bat in the majors.
The question is how to maximize all of these assets, alongside team captain and superstar Judge. Suffice to say that the fan base is split on exactly how to proceed; some are very committed to Soto, while others are more enamored with the promising prospects.
ain't no way there's yankees fans prioritizing Spencer Jones over JUAN SOTO one of them is 22 still stuck in AA and the other is 25 and a 3x all star 1x batting champ and a WS champ on hall of fame track you guys really have noodles for brains don't you pic.twitter.com/negMmwcA9o
— shazil 🇵🇸 (@gleyberdayyy) March 2, 2024
Retweet if you love Spencer Jones pic.twitter.com/cdTUBQ7PuW
— Jimmy Randazzo (@JimmyRandazzo) February 24, 2024
There are a few ways this could go, and the best approach might be the simplest one.
Some voices want the prospects to be the focus, even at the expense of retaining Soto long-term. It would be tough to justify the package they gave up for Soto, centered on the highly promising arm Michael King, if he simply walks in free agency.
They might seek to recoup some value around the trade deadline if the year isn't going as planned; but that's also a very short time in the Bronx for Soto, considering what the team gave up to acquire him. It's also hard to rationalize fully committing to two unproven players over someone who already has a fantastic track record of MLB success.
However, it's also a hard sell to send away incredibly talented homegrown prospects in favor of one extremely expensive player. That being said, there just might be a middle ground that works out in everyone's favor.
The Yankees likely need to keep all three players around for the short term. Injuries happen — especially to Judge, unfortunately — and there's a real scenario where all of these players are needed at the same time. The team must be fully committed to retaining Soto after the trade capital they've invested, but the time to choose between him and their prospects is nowhere near.
Even on a big deal, a player of Soto's age and caliber will always be tradable, should the team eventually decide that Jones and Domínguez are developed enough to push him out. In the meantime, the team will have an embarrassment of riches in the outfield. It could even train Judge or Jones to play first base part time; Judge has already taken practice reps at the position.
Between injury risk and general uncertainty, the likelihood that the team has the opportunity to get good usage out of all of the players in question is very high. General manager Brian Cashman simply must be patient and, in the short term, make sure that a deal gets done with Soto so the major trade was not in vain.
