With the Toronto Blue Jays reportedly not that interested in pursuing free agent outfielder Cody Bellinger, it’s looking more and more likely that the only true threat to ‘steal’ the player away from the New York Yankees is, well, the Mets. With their trendy contract structure of short deals with a high average annual value, they remain candidates to get whoever they put their eyes on.
But late last night, the Mets swung a deal for Luis Robert Jr., perhaps leaving them less likely to pursue Bellinger
aggressively. The Yankees are the favorites to land Bellinger, who put up a 125 wRC+ with 29 home runs and 4.9 fWAR in his lone campaign in the Bronx last year. Still, there is a world in which they lose him to the Mets or another team, with Jon Heyman noting yesterday that Bellinger was weighing offers from two non-New York teams.
If that’s the case, the Yanks will need to make a decision. Do they pursue a mid-level free agent, knowing that there are no players of Bellinger or Kyle Tucker’s level in the open market? Do they try to bring in someone via trade? Or do they trust Jasson Domínguez to be the man in left field?
Maybe the ‘Martian’ needs a platoon partner, since he had a 116 wRC+ vs. righties and a meager 63 mark vs. lefties in 2025. Perhaps he can do a much better job with a glove on his hand, as the -7 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) and -10 Outs Above Average (OAA) he had in 793 innings in 2025 suggest. But there is a case to be made that, if Bellinger signs elsewhere, Domínguez is their best choice for left field at this point.
The young outfielder has had another offseason to work on his routes, reactions, and overall fluidity back there, and even though that doesn’t guarantee improvement, remember he is still just 22 and maturing as a player, and that includes defense.
He is athletic enough to think there could be at least modest improvement on that front with good coaching and a lot of work. Of course, he would need in-game reps. A lot of them. Will he get them on a regular basis? That will depend entirely on what the Yankees do in the rest of the offseason.
Offensively, Domínguez managed to hold his own even without getting regular playing time last year, with a .257/.331/.388 line in 429 plate appearances; 10 home runs, and 23 stolen bases. His 103 wRC+ suggests he is playable right now, but the minor league track record (.817 career OPS down in the farm with a .373 OBP) and set of tools lead us all to believe his ceiling is higher than that.
Domínguez was fine against righties, but he is capable of more. He was a liability facing lefties, though, but there is also potential for improvement there as he gets more at-bats against top competition. Even if he can post an 85-90 wRC+ as a righty, that would be seen as a major step forward, but it’s much easier said than done.
His performance hitting right-handed and how much he improves on defense will likely dictate his overall ceiling as a player. He’ll also need to walk a bit more (9.6 percent BB% last year) and cut down on his strikeouts some (26.8 percent K%), but Domínguez’s ceiling, even if not quite as high as we all thought it was when he was a minor leaguer, is still exciting under the right circumstances.
If Domínguez is anointed the everyday left fielder, which is possible but unlikely since the Yankees will probably want someone to play in his stead when there is a southpaw on the mound, the potential to hit 20 home runs and steal 30 bases with a 110 wRC+ is there. It might not be pretty at times, but we are talking about a soon-to-be 23-year-old player with top prospect pedigree who has held his own as a major leaguer.
Domínguez performance vs. lefties and how much progress he makes with the glove will likely dictate if he is a close to replacement-level or a legitimate three-win-type contributor. The pressure will be on, but the solace for him is that he honestly might well be accustomed to it at this point.
