Spencer Jones tops Yankees outfield questions for 2027

Sherman is going through the whole roster before the hot stove gets going, and Part 6 lands on the group with the most moving parts.

Joel Sherman

@Joelsherman1

t.co/7d2nXAQCfE Part 6 of a Yankees position by position breakdown with a look at an OF with lots of questions, none bigger than those surrounding Spencer Jones.

That Jones is the headline at all says a lot about his year. The Yankees took him 25th overall in the 2022 draft. His first big league stint after the May 8 call-up was rough: 4-for-24 with 12 strikeouts, no extra-base hits, and a trip back down 2 weeks later. That looked like the usual story of a giant, strikeout-prone prospect who might never stick.

It didn't stay that way. Jones played 86 games and hit.245, and with the outfield banged up he started all 5 of the Yankees' playoff games. The power showed up in stretches too, including 2 homers in a September series against the Angels and a go-ahead RBI single in San Diego. Strikeouts are still the catch, with his K rate sitting above 36%.

The splits are where it gets interesting. Jones hit close to.400 against lefties and only.208 against righties. Is he an everyday center fielder who will figure out right-handed pitching with more reps, or a platoon bat the Yankees should build around carefully? That's the question Sherman keeps coming back to.

Joel Sherman

@Joelsherman1

t.co/AW0KVDyUk1 Written version of Part 6 of the series going position by position with the Yankees. Questions about the outfield, many revolving around Spencer Jones.

Center field is the job that matters here. Trent Grisham played 2026 on the $22.025 million qualifying offer he took last November and is set to hit free agency. Back in September, Sherman said Jones was "kind of making us think twice about the center field position" while calling Grisham's recent play "unacceptable." If Jones is the guy, the Yankees can spend their money somewhere else. If they don't trust him, they're shopping for a center fielder or paying to keep Grisham.

Aaron Judge isn't going anywhere, so everything else gets built around him. The open questions are who plays center, whether Jones gets 600 plate appearances or a lefty-heavy platoon, and how much the front office trusts a 25-year-old who struck out in more than a third of his trips. Expect that to drive the Yankees' winter. Jones forced his way into the conversation, and now Brian Cashman has to decide if he's the answer.