TAMPA — When Jasson Domínguez was squeezed out of playing time late last season, the Yankees could have sent him to Triple-A.
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.
He is a switch-hitter who is stronger from the left side, but Grisham and Bellinger also hit left-handed.
The last spot on the Yankees’ bench — especially after they re-signed Paul Goldschmidt — may be better used for a right-handed hitting outfielder, and/or an above-average defensive left fielder, which Domínguez was not last season.
“Domínguez is an extremely talented player,” Cashman said. “He’s one of our best runners. So having him as a choice for our manager to use coming off the bench at times as a pinch-runner to steal a bag or first to third, second to home, what have you, definitely improves our chances of success because of his pure athleticism.
“We’ll just have to wait and see how the spring shakes out, who’s standing and then we’ll make the appropriate decisions when we have our meetings closer to the end of camp.”
It would only take one injury for Domínguez to jump back in the mix, though Spencer Jones — the center fielder with thunderous power but high strikeout rates — will also try to make his case to be the next man up this spring.
“Depth chart, in theory, you’d have him behind Domínguez going in because Domínguez has had more experience than he does,” Cashman said. “But that’s not going to stop him in competition.”