Yankees' Cody Bellinger plan shows Brian Cashman still doesn't trust Jasson Dominguez
By Quinn Everts
Cody Bellinger has officially been traded from the Chicago Cubs to the New York Yankees after weeks of speculation that a deal was in the works. While the trade itself wasn't a surprise to any baseball fans, news of where Bellinger will line up has raised some eyebrows: center field, according to Bob Nightengale.
Cody Bellinger was told that he will be playing center field for the Yankees, sliding Aaron Judge back to right field.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 17, 2024
Bellinger in center field isn't crazy; he's played plenty of center field during his career and is pretty comfortable back there. What's surprising about this move is that lots of Yankees fans expected top prospect Jasson Dominguez to be manning center field this year, as that's his natural position.
This move will most likely push Dominguez to left field which probably isn't the end of the world, but it's also not a huge vote of confidence from Brian Cashman in Dominguez' ability to be an every day starter in CF — especailly when Bellinger would have fit just as well at first base.
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Brian Cashman doesn't want to hand the keys to Jasson Dominguez yet
The Yankees want to win the World Series in 2025 — losing Juan Soto hurt those chances greatly, but adding Max Fried and Cody Bellinger are good moves to start getting back some of the lost value from Soto.
And most of the time, teams with World Series aspirations favor veteran presences instead of unproven talent. Putting Bellinger in center might be an example of that. Still, if Dominguez really is the prospect that Yankees fans claim he is, then it would be comforting to see the front office and management make moves that show they believe in Dominguez like the fans do. This isn't one of those moves.
Is it reason to worry? No — putting a former MVP in center field is the opposite of reason to worry, actually. But it's worth monitoring what New York's plan for Dominguez will be in 2025.