Aaron Boone confirms Yankees won't stop jerking Jasson Dominguez around any time soon

2024 was a frustrating season for Jasson Dominguez. The New York Yankees' top prospect started the season on the IL while rehabbing from offseason elbow surgery, and while he tore up the Minors upon returning to the field, it still wasn't enough to earn him a promotion to the big leagues — despite the fact that New York had one of the worst regulars in baseball, Alex Verdugo, occupying left field. Even when the team finally did call Dominguez up, they seemingly couldn't make up their minds about him, rarely giving him consistent playing time and forcing him to try and learn left field on the fly in the middle of a pennant race.

This offseason, then, represented something of a fresh start. Much to the delight of Yankees fans everywhere, Verdugo hit free agency, and the path seemed clear for Dominguez to enter spring training assured of an everyday job — especially once Juan Soto spurned New York for the crosstown Mets. This would finally be Dominguez's time, the chance for the 21-year-old (yes, he's still just 21) to get his feet under him and grow into the role the Yankees have been grooming him for since signing him at age 16 back in 2019.

So, naturally, it seems like Aaron Boone and Co. are intent on screwing it up.

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Yankees outfield plans once again seem to set Jasson Dominguez up for failure

We hadn't heard much from Boone of late, likely due to the fact that Brian Cashman has been frustratingly quiet throughout the month of January. But the Yankees manager made a radio appearance on New York's WFAN on Tuesday afternoon, and while he shed some light on how the team plans to organize its outfield in 2025, his solution really just repeats the same mistake the team made last season.

Boone told WFAN that he's leaning toward putting Cody Bellinger in center field and Dominguez in left. Which, on the surface, makes sense enough: Bellinger is a better athlete and defender, and center is the more premium position.

But it also ignores the specifics of the Yankees' situation. Yankee Stadium has among the more unique outfield dimensions in baseball, with the short porch in right but a ton of ground to cover in left. You could easily argue that left field is the more difficult position of the two to play, especially with Aaron Judge having little problem covering more ground given how small right field is in the Bronx. Plus, Dominguez came up through New York's system as a center fielder, and we saw how much trouble had trying to learn a new position down the stretch last season.

No matter how hard they try, and no matter how much circumstances around them change, the Yankees just can't seem to let Dominguez well enough alone. He'll finally have plenty of leash in the lineup, but New York will have to hope that his learning curve in the field won't take away from his production at the plate.