Yankees need to pull the plug on OF Jasson Dominguez

No one ever wants to give up on a former top prospect, let alone switch-hitting outfielder Jasson Dominguez. The New York Yankees have been hyping up the 23-year-old since he was a literal teenager who signed for a $5.1 million bonus in 2019.

Fast forward to July of 2026, and it’s time to face the hard truth that the experiment just has not worked out as planned. Dominguez, who has gotten extra playing time in wake of captain Aaron Judge’s rib injury, is batting .229 with five home runs and an awful 82 wRC+. In Sunday night’s close 2-1 win over the Dodgers, Dominguez struck out on a bad pitch with the bases loaded and nobody out. An inning in which no baserunner scored and Dominguez’s swing looked like that of a child trying to imitate Gary Sheffield.

Dominguez has also improved his outfield glove, though his +2 defensive runs saved (DRS) is mirrored by a -2 fielding run value (FRV).

Luckily for Yankees fans, the front office might hear their frustrations with the man formally known as “The Martian” and move accordingly. Insider Francys Romero reports that both Dominguez and outfield prospect Spencer Jones are seen as key trade pieces ahead of the August 3 deadline.

What a bummer. Not to break out a cliche remark, but it wasn’t supposed to play out like this. It wasn’t even three full years ago that Dominguez made his debut in September in the midst of a lost 2023 season, and homered off of future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander in his first career at-bat. One giant step at that start of what was certainly a successful MLB career waiting to happen.

Not so much. The Jasson Dominguez honeymoon was short as the then-20-year-old needed Tommy John surgery. Just eight games and four home runs into his young career. Dominguez’s development was already delayed a year thanks to the pandemic canceling the minor league season in 2020, and he was about to lose almost another to injury. Still, Tommy John is common enough and Dominguez was still young, surely he’d pick up right where he left off, right?

Wrong.

Dominguez hit .314 with 11 homers on his rehab assignment and returned to the Yankees bench in September 2024 and was largely a non-factor. Trent Grisham’s breakout season forced him into the fourth outfielder role last season. He has had plenty of opportunities to set himself apart with regular playing time in 2026 and…just hasn’t.

What’s Brian Cashman to do? The Yankees need a bat to boost the lineup with Judge likely out until September. Adding a reliable righty-hitting catcher—even Hunter Goodman and his 30 homers—to bench Austin Wells is not enough. Cody Bellinger has proven too streaky for the team to simply wait for his bat to solve itself. Max Schuemann, for all his versatility, is not an everyday player.

That means that whatever deal the Yankees make involving Dominguez, it’s going to mean Cashman and his team getting creative. Not too unlike when the Yankees traded for Jazz Chisholm Jr. in 2024. Ideally, Cashman trades for a reliable bat with an arbitration year or two remaining before free agency.

None of this to say that Jasson Dominguez is a bust of a prospect. In fact, quite the exact opposite. Ineffective as he’s been, especially this year, his natural hit tool is too obvious to ignore. The natural raw power is there despite his smaller 5-foot-8 frame. There is indeed a future in which Dominguez pulls it together and forges ahead with a successful major league career.

Except that future isn’t in New York. The Yankees have given Dominguez chance after chance, and he just hasn’t tapped into his talent as hoped. His O-Swing%, which measures swings at pitches out of the strike zone, is a career worst 37.5%. In reality, Dominguez’s O-Swing% has worsened in each of his professional seasons. And, mind you, this is with James Rowson as his hitting coach, arguably the best to serve in the role on Aaron Boone’s staff.

He simply needs a change of scenery.

That could be in Detroit if the Yankees make a play for Tarik Skubal. Or San Diego if closer Mason Miller is the target. Or an entirely different city after Cashman pulls another surprise trade out of his hat.

The Yankees tried with Jasson Dominguez. They really did, and gave him the opportunity to be a key piece of the lineup this season. Instead, an injured Judge & Giancarlo Stanton in the dugout proved more present than Dominguez’s bat in the lineup. The Yankees cannot afford to keep grinding out low-scoring wins until Judge decides he’s ready to play again.

If that means trading Dominguez for someone likely not on anyone’s radar? So be it. These Yankees need a reliable bat who can produce.

That bat is no longer that of Jasson Dominguez.