Yankees face tough decision: Trade No. 2 prospect Spencer Jones, or keep him in the organization?
TORONTO — The ridiculous run outfielder Spencer Jones has been on since his late-June promotion to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is both tantalizing and complicating for the organization.
And the determination the Yankees have to make in advance of the July 31 trade deadline — something that has executives and talent evaluators buzzing — is what exactly do they have in their No. 2-ranked prospect?
Tantalizing for the Yankees is that Jones, 24, who entered Monday with 10 home runs in 16 games with Scranton, is showing the most consistent signs yet that he just might turn into the All-Star-caliber player the organization felt he would be upon picking him in the first round (25th overall) of the 2022 draft out of Vanderbilt.
The 6-7, 240-pound Jones is tied for the minor-league lead with 26 homers. In 65 games between Somerset and Scranton, he is hitting .317 with a 1.106 OPS. The lefty-swinging Jones entered Monday batting .426 (29-for-68) with a 1.422 OPS with Scranton.
Which leads to what is complicating.
The Yankees have a myriad of significant holes that need to be addressed before the trade deadline — at least one power reliever, at least one starting pitcher and an offensive upgrade at third base — and Jones’ recent performance has made an impact on how other teams value him in terms of what they would be willing to give up in a potential deal.
In other words, would the Yankees be willing to part with Jones as part of a trade for an established big-leaguer that would fill one of those holes if Team X insisted the outfield prospect be included? (Much in the way in 2016 the Yankees insisted on Gleyber Torres, then in the Cubs organization and considered the top position prospect in the game, being the centerpiece in trading away Aroldis Chapman. .
“What he is doing,” one AL executive said of Jones, “really makes it interesting for them [the Yankees]. Do you sell high for proven [major-league] talent and take the chance you’re trading away a future star but the payoff this season is maybe a championship? That’s a tough spot.”
Jones, who has been in big-league camp with the Yankees during spring training the last two years and impressed the veterans with how he carried himself, has been highly regarded — and valued by opposing teams — pretty much since his first year in rookie ball. But a bit of luster came off last season when he hit .259 with 17 homers, 30 doubles and a .789 OPS in 124 games with Somerset.
Those numbers were fine, but Jones also led all of the minors in strikeouts (200 in 482 at-bats), which led to shortstop George Lombard Jr. overtaking him as the organization’s No. 1 prospect. Opposing teams for the last two years have been under the impression that Brian Cashman isn’t trading Lombard under any circumstance, but haven’t picked up on quite the same level of resoluteness when it comes to Jones (though teams aren’t under the impression the longtime Yankees GM is looking to deal the latter, either).
One NL talent evaluator said that Jones’ strikeouts last season “definitely lowered his value somewhat." But so far this season, Jones has been a bit better in that department. Going into Monday, Jones had struck out 91 times in 243 at-bats, including 21 strikeouts in 68 at-bats since his promotion to Triple-A.
“Definitely some improvement with his plate discipline,” said one AL scout assigned to the Yankees’ system who recently saw Jones in Triple-A. “It still needs work but much better than last year when it was just swing from the heels and see what happens. Does he sustain that? I don’t know. But I’d take him.”
Added another AL scout from a contending team: “You can’t not be interested. You might be buying .250 with 50 bombs.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone, not surprisingly, has been paying close attention to Jones, particularly during the last couple of weeks.
“Really good to see, obviously,” Boone said Monday before the second-place Yankees started a three-game series against the AL East-leading Blue Jays at Roger Centre. “He’s had a great year, first of all, handling business in Double-A… and then earning that promotion and has been on fire. Probably as hot as anyone in the minor leagues with what he’s done there and especially the damage he’s doing.”
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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