ORLANDO — As Brian Cashman spoke to reporters at the Winter Meetings on Wednesday, he acknowledged that he hasn’t accomplished anything at baseball’s annual industry gathering.
That’s because the markets – trades and free agency – have been moving at a “glacial speed,” the Yankees general manager said. He had a point. At the time of publication, only Kyle Schwarber, returning to the Phillies, and Edwin Díaz, leaving the Mets for the Dodgers, had made mega-millions decisions during the Winter Meetings.
The silver lining, Cashman said, is that “there’s a lot of inventory still there, so there’s a lot of possibilities in play.”
That inventory includes Cody Bellinger, who shined in the Bronx this past season after being acquired from the Cubs last winter. Cashman has been open about his desire to retain the outfielder, who would primarily play left field with the Yankees. However, Bellinger’s agent, Scott Boras, indicated Tuesday that seven other teams are in on his client.
That group includes the Reds, Mets, Dodgers, Phillies, Giants, Blue Jays and Angels, though Boras spoke before news of Schwarber and Díaz’s contracts surfaced.
Asked what the hold up on Bellinger is, Cashman noted that Boras “has a very deep roster of players he’s looking to place” and that the timing of such moves can be strategic. The general manager added that waiting on Bellinger is not stopping the Yankees from making other moves.
Rather, the pace of the market is.
With other big spenders targeting Bellinger, his free agency moving slowly, and a pinstriped reunion not guaranteed, Cashman made sure to mention two internal outfielders on Wednesday: Jasson Domínguez and Spencer Jones.
“We like our players. That is a fact,” Cashman insisted. “But there’s players outside of our current control system that we also like, and may very well like more and better because there’s a lot more certainty there, which comes with cost, whether it’s a trade acquisition or free agent dollars. So it’s my job to play on that stuff and try to figure that out, and if we come to an area that this makes a lot of sense, then we’re ready to pounce and kind of change the equation.
“But if not, we like what we have, too, at the same time. Jasson Domínguez is on his journey, and Spencer Jones is just beginning his journey. Those are two names, but I got no idea how this is going to play out.”
While Domínguez, 22, and Jones, 24, are promising youngsters, committing to either as a full-time starter would be an ill-advised gamble for a club hoping to end a 16-year championship drought in 2026.
Domínguez, brought up as a center fielder, entered last season as the Yankees’ starting left fielder. However, he proved himself to be a defensive liability, struggled from the right side of the plate, and became a seldom-used bench piece by season’s end.
While the Yankees continue to insist that The Martian has made defensive strides and will get better with experience – he hasn’t played in many professional games due to injuries and the COVID-cancelled 2020 minor league season – he ranked last in Outs Above Average (-10) among 20 left fielders with at least 700 innings played last season. Domínguez finished second-to-last in Defensive Runs Saved (-7) and Fielding Run Value (-9) as well.
On Monday, Boone said that he saw “real improvement” from Domínguez on defense throughout the 2025 season, but he acknowledged that “there’s still a long ways to go.”
Questions about Domínguez’s viability as a switch-hitter remain, too, as he had a .768 OPS as a lefty but a .569 OPS as a righty last season. However, Boone and Cashman still say he can be a threat from both sides.
“We’re talking about a very, very young player that didn’t play a ton of minor league baseball, and what suffers from that? The side you don’t hit from as much,” Boone said. “It’s a natural side for him. He’s a natural right-handed hitter.
“I don’t think it’s out of the question that at some point that right-handed [swing] catches up to the left side. We’ll see. I think he has the ability to do it.”
In an effort to get more reps at the plate and in left, Domínguez recently played in 11 games for the Dominican Winter League’s Escogido Baseball Club. Domínguez didn’t hit particularly well, batting .184 with three doubles, but he didn’t make an error in left.
Cashman added that the Yankees’ hitting coaches and outfield coach Luis Rojas gave Domínguez “a whole checklist” of things to work on and coordinated with Escogido.
Jones, meanwhile, is coming off an explosive season. Initially tasked with repeating Double-A after a strikeout-heavy 2024 campaign, he hit .274 with a .932 OPS, 80 RBI and 29 stolen bases while earning a promotion to Triple-A.
Boone and Cashman have repeatedly said that the 2022 first-round pick has has a chance to impact the big league club next season and that he could compete with Domínguez for a starting job in spring training, depending on how the roster shakes out.
“He’s earned, without a doubt, the look in the competition, but again, it all depends on how many opportunities exist based on the decisions that come out of this winter,” Cashman said earlier this offseason. “But he’s put himself in a position to be considered a potential everyday major leaguer in 2026.”
Just how serious the Yankees are about that remains to be seen, but strikeouts and contact remained a huge issue for Jones last season, even as he generally succeeded.
The 6-7 slugger’s 35.4 K% made for a marginal improvement after he fanned 36.8% of the time in 2024, but it was still rather high. His 72% zone contact rate would have been the second-worst in the majors.
Now, success can be had with those low rates — Rafael Devers, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge all finished in the bottom-five in the latter category — but the jury is still out on what type of hitter Jones will be in the majors, and his rookie season will surely come with growing pains.
Domínguez and Jones’ standing as unfinished products is why re-signing Bellinger – the Yankees have also checked in on the more expensive Kyle Tucker – has always made sense for the club, at least for the 2026 season. With Trent Grisham back on the qualifying offer and playing center, Bellinger’s return would allow the Yankees to trade their young outfielders or continue their development.
It is possible that Bellinger’s market reaches heights that the Yankees don’t care to climb with alternatives limited, though. That could leave them leaning on one of their novices – and with some uncertainty in the outfield.
“We’re an aggressive franchise, but while being aggressive, we already have some very large commitments, and the more of those you have, the more impact it affects you in other areas,” Cashman said. “And so everything’s tied together. Our ownership has obviously demonstrated year in and year out how massively committed they are. But at the same time, that’s not an open, blank checkbook either.”
