Jasson Dominguez facing uphill battle to make Yankees roster in crowded outfield

TAMPA — When Jasson Domínguez was squeezed out of playing time late last season, the Yankees could have sent him to Triple-A.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.

But Brian Cashman “didn’t think that was right to do,” he acknowledged over the winter, because there was still a role for the outfielder to play off the bench in a playoff chase.Now the Yankees are entering a spring in which they have another crowded outfield, with even more dollars committed to Trent Grisham and Cody Bellinger, and Domínguez on the outside looking in.Might the new year and new situation change the equation for whether Domínguez will be optioned to Triple-A once camp breaks?“If everything stays the same, we’ll be forced to determine what’s our best course of action to help this team be impactful,” Cashman said Friday from Steinbrenner Field.“I would concede it’s in his best interest to be getting everyday reps.”Realistically, barring injuries, the only place for that to happen would appear to be at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.Domínguez just turned 23 and the Yankees, through some of his growing pains last year, often pointed to the fact that he did not play a whole lot during his rise through the minors because of injuries and having a season wiped out by COVID.

So there is value in giving him a chance to go play every day in the minor leagues, even after spending all of last season in The Bronx and providing some production in 429 plate appearances.That case is only bolstered by the fact that there is not a clear lane for Domínguez to play off the bench, other than pinch-running.Sign up for Inside the Yankees by Greg Joyce, exclusively on Sports+.

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