{"id":516939,"date":"2026-01-12T17:13:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T17:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/516939\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T17:13:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T17:13:13","slug":"1-player-yankees-must-trade-before-spring-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/516939\/","title":{"rendered":"1 player Yankees must trade before spring training"},"content":{"rendered":"

Front offices often sneer at the very thought of trading one of their organization\u2019s top prospects, but sometimes championship expectations call for equally powerful risks. The New York Yankees must choose to deal outfielder Spencer Jones<\/a> ahead of spring training if they have designs on making another October run.<\/p>\n

The Yankees have long been a franchise that has touted itself as a \u201cwin-or-bust\u201d operation. While they\u2019ve consistently produced winning records and playoff appearances, New York has not won a World Series title since 2009, and is currently attempting to craft a winner around 32-year-old captain Aaron Judge.<\/p>\n

Given New York\u2019s current outfield situation and Jones\u2019 overall potential,<\/a> a trade might be the best outcome for both parties.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s this untapped potential situation that\u2019s done everything he needs to do thus far to put himself in the position to get into a Major League ballpark and say, \u2018This spot is mine,\u2019\u201d Yankees general manager Brian Cashman<\/a> told MLB Network Radio in December.<\/p>\n

The Yankees might not have room for Jones in the Bronx\"\u00a9 Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Presently, Trent Grisham, Jasson Dominguez, and Judge are all slated to be major contributors in 2026. Further, it is possible that the Yankees could acquire either Kyle Tucker or Cody Bellinger to aid their outfield.<\/p>\n

Even if New York were to call up Jones to begin the season, he would not receive a great deal of playing time. The outfield is crowded, and Giancarlo Stanton will likely serve as the team\u2019s primary designated hitter.<\/p>\n

One could argue that the team could choose to platoon Jones with Dominguez in the outfield, but such a suggestion assumes that they do not acquire another high-impact player, and also does not view Dominguez as a player with everyday potential.<\/p>\n

Jones is clearly talented, but the Yankees do not have space for him to thrive at the major league level. Unless their immediate plans have changed, moving the 24-year-old could be the course of action that allows the current core a chance to win.<\/p>\n

Spencer Jones\u2019 strong resume makes him a prime trade candidate<\/p>\n

Across 116 games with Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton\/Wilkes-Barre, Jones mashed 35 home runs, collected 80 RBIs, and posted a .933 OPS. While some still have questions regarding his ability to limit strikeouts, many within New York\u2019s organization feel as though he\u2019s shown enough to earn a closer look.
\u201cHe handled his business at the Minor League level,\u201d Yankees manager Aaron Boone<\/a> told Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. \u201cNow he comes in with probably a more realistic look. Whether it\u2019s to start the season or not, we\u2019ll see, but it\u2019s probably a more realistic look to where he\u2019s now knocking on the door of the big leagues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones has also personally commented on the subject<\/a> and went as far as to say that his mission this spring is to show the Yankees that he belongs in pinstripes.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrying to prove to them every reason why you should be there,\u201d he said. \u201cBeing as competitive as possible and showing them how bad you want it, that\u2019s important. That\u2019s going to be my job going into camp.\u201d<\/p>\n

A player with such a unique combination of talent and competitive will is hard to come by, and while most clubs would jump at the chance to promote him, the Yankees have needs that he will not be able to presently fulfill.<\/p>\n

New York has not enjoyed a powerful offseason thus far, but trading Jones could grant them the chance to acquire a player or two who could aid their quest to bring home the 28th title in team history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Front offices often sneer at the very thought of trading one of their organization\u2019s top prospects, but sometimes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":516940,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2376],"tags":[1797,5,3936,3450,4,1690,62,2548,2547,142],"class_list":{"0":"post-516939","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-yankees","8":"tag-aaron-boone","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-brian-cashman","11":"tag-mini-editorials","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-yankees","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkyankees","17":"tag-yankees"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115883252641654201","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}