Despite Alex Verdugo’s ineptitude in the regular season and in October, the New York Yankees ran him out there regularly as the team’s starting left fielder instead of Jasson Dominguez, one of the best prospects in all of baseball. Sure, Dominguez struggled in his brief stint with the Yankees this past season, but there’s reason to believe had he gotten more reps he would’ve performed a lot better than he did.
New York probably would not have won the World Series even with an improved version of Dominguez, but it would’ve been nice to see the organization’s top prospect out there instead of statistically one of the worst regulars in the game.
The Yankees’ refusal to let Dominguez play when Verdugo was the other option raises the question of just how much the franchise believes in him. Is Dominguez actually a major part of the franchise’s future?
Instead of keeping Dominguez’s future in limbo and potentially tanking his value as Cashman has done in recent memory with guys like Oswald Peraza, Deivi Garcia, and Estevan Florial, cashing in on him now while he still has a good amount of value in exchange for an established outfielder makes some sense. Anthony Castrovince drew up one possible trade to ensure Cashman doesn’t tank Dominguez’s value before it’s too late.
Here’s what said trade looks like:
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Arguments can be made that both sides are giving up too much here. Robert is the All-Star outfielder, yet the Chicago White Sox are the team parting with a prospect in addition to him for an unproven player.
On the flip side, Robert has been injury-prone for much of his career, and outside of a breakout 2023 season, has been a bit disappointing. He struggled mightily in the 100 games he was able to play this past season. Do the Yankees really have to part with six seasons of incredibly cheap Dominguez club control just for Robert and a mid-level prospect?
With that being said, though, both sides would benefit by making a deal like this. Sure, Robert comes with red flags, but he’s shown that he can be a superstar at the MLB level. Perhaps moving away from the Southside and to a winning environment would help him unlock that potential more consistently. The White Sox might be parting with a prospect in addition to Robert and only get one player, but Dominguez’s ceiling is arguably as high if not higher than Robert’s, and he’d come with six years of control. He certainly fits their timeline better.
The Yankees would have to spend a bit more money and would lose some club control by making this trade, but if they’re able to re-sign Juan Soto, does it get any better than an outfield consisting of Soto, Robert, and Aaron Judge? Dominguez might be elite down the line, but this Yankees franchise should be trying to win in 2025. Robert gives them a better chance there.
If the Yankees are willing to commit to Dominguez actually playing regularly, trading him just for Robert might not make sense, but we have yet to see them actually commit to that. Instead of risking his value going to waste, considering this trade or something similar would make a lot of sense, given the need to win right now.
