{"id":108533,"date":"2025-10-17T22:07:05","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T02:07:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=108533"},"modified":"2025-10-17T22:07:05","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T02:07:05","slug":"yankees-may-need-spencer-jones-next-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/10\/17\/yankees-may-need-spencer-jones-next-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Outfield Prospect Could Have a Role with the Yankees Next Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With the New York Yankees&#8217; season at a close, the organization and fans alike are now looking on to the 2026 season. But before that happens, the Yankees will face a great deal of questions during the offseason. Among them are how to configure the infield (particularly at shortstop), who will make up the bullpen, and what the outfield will look like. That last question is perhaps the most unclear; with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bellico01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-10-17_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cody Bellinger<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/grishtr01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-10-17_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Trent Grisham<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/10\/09\/yankees-free-agent-questions\/\" target=\"_self\">both facing free agency<\/a>, captain <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/j\/judgeaa01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-10-17_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aaron Judge<\/a> is the only outfielder on the current roster who will 100% be returning next season.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_108349\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-108349\" style=\"width: 833px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-108349\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/10\/USATSI_27162486-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"833\" height=\"555\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/10\/USATSI_27162486-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/10\/USATSI_27162486-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/10\/USATSI_27162486-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/10\/USATSI_27162486-1536x1021.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/10\/USATSI_27162486-2048x1362.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/10\/USATSI_27162486-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/10\/USATSI_27162486-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 833px) 100vw, 833px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-108349\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Scranton\/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders outfielder Spencer Jones (48) is walked during the first inning of Game 2 of an MiLB International League Championship Series at VyStar Ballpark Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025 in Jacksonville, Fla. The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp defeated the Scranton\/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 6-4 and forced a Game 3 Thursday evening for the title championship.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Spencer Jones Could Break In with the Yankees Next Season<\/h2>\n<h3>The Fourth Outfielder<\/h3>\n<p>There are no guarantees when it comes to the offseason, but it&#8217;s safe to say that the Yankees will almost certainly try to <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/10\/11\/cody-bellinger-will-opt-out-yankees-contract\/\" target=\"_self\">bring back either Grisham or Bellinger<\/a>. During Tuesday&#8217;s press conference at Yankee Stadium, manager <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/booneaa01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-10-17_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aaron Boone<\/a> said that he expects <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/dominja01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-10-17_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jasson Dom\u00ednguez<\/a> to see regular playing time next season, which insinuates that they will only try to bring back one of their two free-agent outfielders, not both.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Jasson Dom\u00ednguez is expected to play regularly next season, Aaron Boone said. He may play in winter ball. They envision him in left field, depending on how the offseason goes.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Bryan Hoch \u26be\ufe0f (@BryanHoch) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BryanHoch\/status\/1978860311810548099?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 16, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Yankees should know how important it is to have a solid fourth outfielder on the bench; Dom\u00ednguez was actually the starting left fielder for much of the first month of 2025, with Grisham starting off the season as the &#8220;fourth outfielder&#8221;. Of course, he eventually earned an everyday role, but will the Yankees be able to find a backup outfielder for next season that could work his way into the starting lineup? Or, even better, they could stumble upon another star outfielder.<\/p>\n<h3>Aaron Judge 2.0<\/h3>\n<p>Trivial as the comparisons of being the next Aaron Judge are, top prospect <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=jones-003spe,jones-001spe&amp;search=Spencer+Jones&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-10-17_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spencer Jones<\/a> has still given the Yankees and their fans much to be excited about. New York&#8217;s number four overall prospect, according to <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/milb\/prospects\/yankees\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">MLB Pipeline<\/a>, slashed .274\/.342\/.594 with 19 home runs and 48 RBI after playing his first game with Triple-A Scranton Wilkes\/Barre on June 27. Standing at 6&#8217;7&#8243; and weighing 240 pounds, it&#8217;s no wonder that Jones drew a ton of comparisons to the two-time American League MVP.<\/p>\n<p>Not everything is going great for Jones, though. The 24-year-old also struck out 179 times across Double-A and Triple-A last season, walking 58 times in 506 plate appearances. This is a little concerning, even with the solid numbers he put up otherwise. Still, there were whispers that Jones could potentially get the call to the big leagues as early as next spring.<\/p>\n<h3>Cash-Confirmed<\/h3>\n<p>General manager Brian Cashman did nothing to abate these whispers during Tuesday&#8217;s press conference, when he stated that Jones has certainly put himself &#8220;in the conversation&#8221; to be in the starting lineup come 2026.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Spencer Jones has put himself \u201cin the conversation\u201d to be an everyday Major Leaguer in 2026, Brian Cashman said.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Bryan Hoch \u26be\ufe0f (@BryanHoch) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BryanHoch\/status\/1978872317733408817?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 16, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>With both Jones and Dom\u00ednguez having the opportunity to seize a starting spot in the outfield for 2026, this could mean that New York plans to use the two of them in place of Grisham and Bellinger. What&#8217;s more likely is that the Yankees re-sign one of them and have their two young outfielders battle it out for the third spot (though, at this point, Dom\u00ednguez would probably win that battle).<\/p>\n<p>No matter what happens in the offseason or in the spring, one thing is certain: they definitely have big plans for their slugger down in Triple-A. He may not be ready for MLB just yet, but the potential is clearly there. Along with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/ricebe01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-10-17_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ben Rice<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/schlica01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-10-17_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cam Schlittler<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/w\/warrewi01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-10-17_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Will Warren<\/a>, the Yankees could finally have a talented young core that they can build the rest of their roster around.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the New York Yankees&#8217; season at a close, the organization and fans alike are now looking on to the 2026 season. But before that happens, the Yankees will face a great deal of questions during the offseason. Among them are how to configure the infield (particularly at shortstop), who will make up the bullpen, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5148,"featured_media":103575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33,1071,35],"tags":[501,28591,29128,899,2970,2599,3226,6491],"class_list":["post-108533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dodgers","category-mlb","category-news","tag-aaron-judge","tag-ben-rice","tag-cam-schlittler","tag-cody-bellinger","tag-jasson-dominguez","tag-spencer-jones","tag-trent-grisham","tag-will-warren"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5148"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108533"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108544,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108533\/revisions\/108544"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}