The New York Yankees haven’t settled their left-field picture, but Brian Cashman made one thing clear this week: two of the organization’s most hyped young talents are heading straight toward a spring-training showdown.
Cashman told reporters the team enters 2026 with more internal comfort, then dropped the line that will define the competition: “Now we have Jasson Dominguez and Spencer Jones competing for left field, and we have Grisham, and we have Judge.”
For the first time, the Yankees are openly framing Dominguez vs. Jones as a head-to-head fight between two former top-25 prospects, one Opening Day job. It also raises the question if one will be traded before they even get to spring.
Dominguez, 22, returns with more major-league experience and one of the better power-contact combinations on the roster. In 2025, he hit.257 with 10 homers, 47 RBIs, and a.719 OPS, backed by a 90.6 mph average exit velocity and a 49.6% hard-hit rate, the kind of underlying performance that still suggests star upside. The question is consistency. After Tommy John rehab, then multiple start-stop stretches, the Yankees want to see a full, clean spring.
Jones, 6-foot-7 and 29 steals deep, brings something entirely different.
He spent 2025 forcing the Yankees’ hand in the minors, slashing.274 with 35 home runs, 80 RBIs, and 29 stolen bases across Double-A and Triple-A. The athleticism is real. So is the strikeout risk. His next test is proving that the power-speed profile translates against major-league pitching.
The competition exists because left field is the only outfield job up for grabs.
Aaron Judge is locked into right. Trent Grisham gives the club defense in center after accepting the qualifying offer. And while the Yankees remain in contact with big-ticket free agents, Cashman’s words make clear that the door is open for a true internal winner, not an inherited role.
For the Yankees, the battle is long overdue.
For Jones and Dominguez, it’s a rare, high-stakes, spring-training duel where one young star walks away with a job and the other opens the season in Triple-A or on the bench.
Cashman said the Yankees finally have “more comfort.” What they really have is a March storyline built on talent, upside and pressure — and only one outfield spot to claim.
