{"id":94788,"date":"2025-01-28T18:15:35","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T23:15:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=94788"},"modified":"2025-01-28T18:16:03","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T23:16:03","slug":"boone-announces-yankees-outfield-lineup-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/01\/28\/boone-announces-yankees-outfield-lineup-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"Aaron Boone Discusses Yankees&#8217; Outfield Plans for Next Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The New York Yankees are going to look a lot different next season than they did in 2024. Namely, the outfield has undergone major changes. On Tuesday, manager <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/managers\/booneaa01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aaron Boone<\/a> announced on WFAN 660 what the team&#8217;s plans are next year in the outfield. In addition to the captain, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/j\/judgeaa01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-01-28_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aaron Judge<\/a>, moving back to his natural position in right field, center field will be occupied by offseason <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/12\/17\/cubs-trade-cody-bellinger-to-yankees\/\" target=\"_self\">trade acquisition<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bellico01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-01-28_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cody Bellinger<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Yankees manager Aaron Boone on <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WFAN660?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@WFAN660<\/a> with <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BTandSal?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@BTandSal<\/a> says it&#8217;s likely that Cody Bellinger would start in CF with Jasson Dom\u00ednguez in LF.<\/p>\n<p>Talked about how if he needs to, he\u2019s able to move around Bellinger a little bit considering who needs DH days.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIdeally, would not like\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Brendan Kuty ?\u200d\u2642\ufe0f (@BrendanKutyNJ) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BrendanKutyNJ\/status\/1884317959100698994?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 28, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>As for left field, Yankees fans will be happy to learn that the team plans on starting <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/dominja01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-01-28_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jasson Dom\u00ednguez<\/a> in left field. They saw a glimpse of what that looked like at the end of last season, with Dom\u00ednguez starting 13 games in left across August and September. Though &#8220;The Martian&#8221; has shown <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/01\/20\/yankees-high-expectations-jasson-dominguez\/\" target=\"_self\">a lot of promise<\/a> in his young career, there are also some concerns that have arisen, particularly with his fielding skills.<\/p>\n<h2>Aaron Boone Discusses Yankees&#8217; Outfield Plans for 2025<\/h2>\n<h3>Defensive Troubles<\/h3>\n<p>Touted for his hitting prowess and switch-hitting ability throughout his minor league career, Dom\u00ednguez almost got the nod to <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/09\/26\/yankees-starting-left-field-problem-postseason\/\" target=\"_self\">start in left for the Yankees last postseason<\/a>. This didn&#8217;t happen, though, as they opted to start <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=verdual01,verdug001ale&amp;search=Alex+Verdugo&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-01-28_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alex Verdugo<\/a> purely because of his superior fielding ability. This made a lot of sense considering the numerous defensive blunders the 21-year-old made, showcasing that perhaps his fielding was not yet major league-ready.<\/p>\n<p>Granted, Dom\u00ednguez is a natural center fielder, so switching to left obviously came with a learning curve. But, especially in Yankee Stadium, left field may not be too suitable for a young player who has apparent weaknesses on the defensive front. Bellinger, who has eight years of major league experience at all outfield positions, might make a better fit in left field. Also considering that Bellinger may not return in 2026, it would make more sense for the Yankees to allow their top prospect to adjust to the majors at his natural position.<\/p>\n<h3>Secondary Options<\/h3>\n<p>Boone also stated that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/pereiev01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-01-28_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Everson Pereira<\/a>, another highly-regarded outfield prospect, will be &#8220;healthy and ready to go&#8221; next season after undergoing UCL surgery in June. The 23-year-old struggled in his major league debut in 2023, hitting .151\/.233\/.194 over 27 games. Of course, he likely won&#8217;t be the Yankees&#8217; fourth outfielder, since that spot belongs to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/grishtr01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-01-28_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Trent Grisham<\/a>. But if he has an impressive spring training, or if injuries pile up, he may get another crack on the major league roster.<\/p>\n<h3>The Last Word<\/h3>\n<p>In spite of the weak spot in left field, the Yankees are looking pretty solid in terms of the outfield with Judge and Bellinger patrolling right and center, respectively. Perhaps Dom\u00ednguez will improve and\/or adjust to left field, and at the very least there is protection next to him with the Gold Glove-winning Bellinger. Regardless, New York&#8217;s outfield could once again be one of the best in baseball come next season.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: \u00a9 Tim Heitman-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The New York Yankees are going to look a lot different next season than they did in 2024. Namely, the outfield has undergone major changes. On Tuesday, manager Aaron Boone announced on WFAN 660 what the team&#8217;s plans are next year in the outfield. In addition to the captain, Aaron Judge, moving back to his [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5148,"featured_media":94801,"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":[5,1071,35],"tags":[1787,501,900,899,5052,2970,3226],"class_list":["post-94788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-yankees","category-mlb","category-news","tag-aaron-boone","tag-aaron-judge","tag-alex-verdugo","tag-cody-bellinger","tag-everson-pereira","tag-jasson-dominguez","tag-trent-grisham"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94788","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=94788"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94803,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94788\/revisions\/94803"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}