Yankees Get Bad News on $325 Million Star as Spring Training Begins

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Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton is dealing with an injury.

The New York Yankees could be without slugging outfielder Giancarlo Stanton on Opening Day.

Stanton reported to spring training on February 16, but when he arrived, he was dealing with injuries to his elbows that put his status for Opening Day in question. Yankees manager Aaron Boone says Stanton is experiencing soreness in both of his elbows, which he compared to tennis elbow.

New York plans on slow-playing Stanton in spring training, but whether or not he will be on the Opening Day roster or the IL is to be seen.

“I don’t know; we’ll see,” Boone said on February 16. “It’s tough to say. I’m not going to put any timeline on it. We’re just going to be smart with it.”

Stanton has three years left on his 13-year $325.5 million deal with the Yankees. The slugger was expected to have a big role on offense after Juan Soto left in free agency.

Stanton hit .233 with 27 home runs and 72 RBIs in the regular season while hitting .273 with 7 home runs and 16 RBIs in the playoffs.

Yankees Won’t Rush Stanton

With Stanton dealing with injuries to both of his elbows, Boone says the team won’t rush him in spring training.

Instead, Boone is hopeful some time off for Stanton and rehab will help him be ready for Opening Day.

“He was doing stuff [in the offseason] and then he kind of shut down and got treatments,” Boone said. “It’s just something we don’t want to rush, if we can get to a really good spot and know we’re going to have to probably deal with some maintenance with it throughout the year. We don’t want to force anything too early.”

The Yankees will have their first full-squad workout on February 17, but Stanton likely won’t take part in it.

If Stanton can’t play on Opening Day, Aaron Judge or Cody Bellinger could serve as the DH. Ahead of spring training, Boone heaped praise on Bellinger and what he does to the Yankees’ lineup.

“He’s huge for us, especially since we’re a little more left-handed right now,” Boone said. “You take a big right-handed bat out of there and you get a little unbalanced there.”

The Yankees open its 2025 MLB season on March 27 against the Milwaukee Brewers.

New York Will Give Jasson Dominguez Every Chance to Start

With Stanton dealing with an injury, a key player to replace him is Jasson Dominguez.

Dominguez will be given every chance to start in left field and hopefully add some offense to the lineup.

“He’s a young guy who’s still got to go out and earn it,” Boone said. “He hasn’t played a ton of baseball for as fast as he’s gotten to the big leagues and as much success as we’ve all seen him have. I think we all in this room would recognize just how talented he is. I’d love for him to secure it and grab it and my expectation is that he will…I feel like he’s in a good spot right now. He’s got a good look in his eye and he’s going to get every opportunity to be that guy and we certainly are hoping he shows us that.”

Dominguez hit .179 with 2 home runs and 4 RBIs in 56 ABs in 2024.

Cole Shelton Cole Shelton covers the NHL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has covered pro and college sports since 2016, including bylines at BJ Penn, USA Today, SB Nation, Rotowire, Canadian Baseball Network and more. More about Cole Shelton