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By Jackson Roberts
Contributing Sports Writer
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The New York Yankees' loaded outfield is an obvious boon to the overall roster, but it creates some difficult development situations as well.
New York has two young outfielders who deserve a lane to grow at the major league level. One, Jasson Domínguez, was on the team for all of last season. The other, Spencer Jones, is a former first-round pick who is older than Domínguez but has yet to make his major league debut.
On Monday, the Yankees ensured Jones' debut would have to wait a little longer. In their second round of 40-man roster cutdowns, they optioned the 24-year-old slugger to Triple-A with just over two weeks to go before opening day, according to the transactions log and an official roster announcement.
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On many teams, Jones might be in an earnest competition to start in center field on opening day. He clubbed 35 home runs in the minors last season, only one off the lead for all minor-leaguers, and made major strides with his overall consistency, even if he still struck out at a 35% clip.
But similarly to Domínguez, who seems to be ticketed for Triple-A to start the season as well, Jones wouldn't benefit from sitting on the major league bench behind Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, and Trent Grisham. And because Grisham is left-handed and the other two will start every game when healthy, it makes more sense for the fourth outfielder on the roster to bat righty anyway.
The pressure is starting to build for Jones to prove he has a long-term future in New York. He hasn't been traded to this point, but a big start to the season in the minors could get the Yankees to start thinking about letting Grisham walk in free agency this time and clearing a path for Jones next year.
The clock has also begun, as Jones will have two more option years after this one and therefore needs to get to work on proving that he won't need to constantly be sent back and forth between the majors and minors after his opportunity comes.
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