TAMPA, Fla. — It is a common phrase professional baseball players use among themselves during their days in the minor leagues:
“Don’t play GM.”
Meaning, control what you can control. Don’t make assumptions about how a roster move in the league above you — whether you’re in Low-A or Triple-A — could lead to your promotion.
Just play. And play well.
Let the chips fall where they may after that.
It is advice Jasson Dominguez — who all but seems destined to start the regular season with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre unless one of the Yankees’ starting outfielders gets hurt during the next six weeks — needs to follow in spring training.
And it is advice the young outfielder seems set on following.
“That’s one thing that I can’t control,” Dominguez said Sunday of the challenges of this spring training compared to last year, when he reported to Tampa with the starting job in leftfield all but his to lose (which he did not). “I don’t make the decisions. I do my best to get the best results I can get, and that’s what I’m focusing on right now.”
For Dominguez, 23 — who made his big-league debut at the age of 20 on Sept. 1, 2023, in Houston and homered off future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander on his first major-league swing — being ticketed for Scranton to start this season has been a topic of heavy speculation since the Yankees re-upped leftfielder Cody Bellinger in January.
With centerfielder Trent Grisham accepting the $22.025 million qualifying offer in November — which surprised many in the organization — and Aaron Judge in right, Bellinger’s return effectively blocked Dominguez from getting the everyday reps the club believes the one-time top-rated prospect needs to continue his development.
General manager Brian Cashman officially put words to that idea this past week.
“I would concede it’s in his best interest to be getting everyday reps,” he said of the possibility of Dominguez starting the year with Scranton.
Dominguez, whom the Yankees signed out of the Dominican Republic for a franchise-record signing bonus of $5.1 million at the age of 16, was hardly a bust in his first full season in the majors in 2025. He hit .257 with 10 homers, 47 RBIs, a .719 OPS and 23 stolen bases in 28 attempts in 123 games.
Two factors reduced his playing time, though. It wasn’t for lack of effort, but Dominguez never took to leftfield — a position he more or less tried to learn on the fly in the big leagues after coming up through the minors playing primarily centerfield. The switch hitter also performed much better as a lefthanded hitter (a .274/.348/.420 slash line) than he did as a righthanded hitter (.204/.279/.290).
The struggles in the field combined with his difficulty batting righthanded — as well as Bellinger’s consistent production, and Grisham’s, for that matter — caused Dominguez’s playing time to dwindle in the season’s second half. That continued into the postseason; Dominguez received only one at-bat in seven games, recording a pinch-hit double in the Yankees’ ALDS Game 4 loss to the Blue Jays that ended their season.
Dominguez’s development continued during the offseason in the Dominican Republic, where he played 11 games in winter ball and went 7-for-38 (a .184/.304/.263 slash line). The Yankees want that development to continue on an everyday basis, which the majors, as the roster is currently constructed, doesn’t offer.
Manager Aaron Boone repeatedly praised Dominguez — who is popular among his veteran teammates because of his genial disposition and the professional way he goes about his work — on Sunday.
“I think first and foremost, J.D.’s a really good player,” Boone said. “Had a good season for a 22-year-old debuting his first full year last year and gained a lot of valuable experience. We think there’s a lot more in there, too. I think he’s got a chance to be an outstanding player.”
Still, in discussing the situation Dominguez faces in spring training compared to last, Boone was more bottom-line and emotionally detached.
“That’s the reality of big-league baseball,” he said. “Everyone’s got stuff they have to deal with, and challenging things they have to deal with, adversity, whatever it may be. Sometimes things that are even out of your control, right? So that’s part of the game, and part of navigating a big-league career is dealing with those things.”
By all accounts, Dominguez, who at some point could be a trade chip, gets it.
“I feel at the end of the day, they have to do what’s best for the team,” he said. “Whatever decision they make, I’ll be ready for.”
Erik Boland started in Newsday’s sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.