Kevin Reese, the Yankees’ vice president of player development, has
described the hypeand expectations surrounding outfield prospect Jasson Dominguez as on a “completely different level” than any other amateur player that the team has signed.
That is partly because Dominguez was given a $5.1 million signing bonus in 2019; his nickname is “The Martian” because his baseball talent is considered to be otherworldly. Last season, Dominguez showed why he’s considered to be one of the best prospects in baseball. After spending the regular season in Class-A ball, he got promoted just before the Double-A playoffs, where he hit .450/.560/.950 with three home runs, 10 RBI and five walks in five games. In the championship game, Dominguez finished 3-for-4, homered from both sides of the plate and knocked in six runs. Altogether in 2022, Dominguez hit 16 homers, stole 37 bases and finished with an OPS of .837.
ADVERTISEMENT
Dominguez likely still has at least two more years until he’s ready for the majors. But the
Yankees believe that if he keeps on his current trajectory, he could somehow reach the lofty expectations that were placed upon him as a 16-year-old.
“We certainly thought so given his ability at his age when we signed him,” said Donny Rowland, the Yankees’ international director of amateur scouting. “We gave him a significant signing bonus because of that. When he was being showcased as an amateur down here (in the Dominican Republic), the tools were pretty much off the charts across the board. He has to maintain those tools. He can’t lose any of them. If he doesn’t and continues to progress and continues performing, with the tools he has, he can certainly be a cornerstone player. That’s what we saw when we signed him.”
Dominguez will likely start the upcoming year in Double A because he played in only 10 total games at that level. But the Yankees were encouraged by his development in 2022 after his first professional season in 2021, when he was 18 and his opponents in the Florida Complex League were usually in their early 20s.
“He went to High A and did well and pretty much everything improved,” Rowland said. “Then he went to Double A and struggled in the regular season and had a gangbusters playoffs. Everything appears to be progressing very well and even when he went to High A last year, things progressed pretty rapidly. We’ll see. He still has a lot to learn and has a ways to go but he was 19 in Double A and did pretty well in the playoffs. I think last year, he was the only minor leaguer to hit a home run from both sides of the plate and he did it twice in the same game.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I just saw him (in the Dominican Republic) and he looks phenomenal as far as conditioning. His body looks great. His physique looks great. His athleticism looks great.”
Oswald Peraza’s opportunity
Both Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone have said on numerous occasions now that they expect there to be a competition at shortstop this spring between Oswald Peraza, incumbent starter Isiah Kiner-Falefa and No. 1 prospect Anthony Volpe.
Peraza played just 18 games in the regular season after being a September call-up but was impressive even with sporadic playing time. The sample size at the plate is too small to generate any conclusions about how well he’ll perform if given the starting role. But he had quality at-bats, showed he could hit fastballs, had a good walk rate and an excellent strikeout rate. That doesn’t mean fans should expect him to be leading off and winning the batting title as a rookie but it’s encouraging that he was able to perform well at the plate given the inconsistent opportunities.
His real value right now is with his glove, and that’s where he can immediately make a difference. The Yankees continuously stuck with Kiner-Falefa. That only changed, when their season was on the line in the American League Division Series, because of his defensive miscues, which came after frequent comments during the regular season insisting that he was one of the best defensive shortstops in baseball. In reality, the signs were clear that Kiner-Falefa was struggling in the field even when he was making plays. His arm was not strong enough and he’d consistently have throws that were at the first baseman’s feet.
Kiner-Falefa was also a below-average hitter this past season with his 85 wRC+ and a 1.2 percent barrel rate, the lowest of any qualified shortstop. Even if Peraza struggles as much as Kiner-Falefa did at the plate — and he’s been above average every year in the minors since he was in Low-A ball in 2019 — he should still be an upgrade because of his glove.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I thought he showed a lot of defensive ability,” Rowland said of Peraza’s short stint with the Yankees. “He competed at the plate. We’ll see what happens when he comes into spring training. He’s obviously been someone that our international staff has been very proud of the way he’s progressed. The projections we made are a credit to him and a credit to our international staff but a credit to player development, too. All of us working together have hopefully created a major leaguer. We’ll see. I thought he handled himself well from what I saw from afar.”
All signs point to Peraza going into spring the favorite to win the job but the wild card is Volpe, whom the organization values highly and considers a future star. Peraza does have an advantage over Volpe in that he is already seasoned in Triple A and has major-league experience, whereas Volpe only played 22 games in Triple A and struck out in more than 30 percent of his at-bats with Scranton.
With Peraza and Volpe both being shortstops, it’s likely one of them will have to switch positions. Right now, the better all-around fielder is Peraza.
“When we signed him, we thought he was a shortstop,” Rowland said. “And as of now, there’s no reason to believe he’s not.”
Oswaldo Cabrera’s maturation
Oswaldo Cabrera was a revelation for the Yankees, particularly in the field, this past season after getting called up in mid-August. Even with only 44 major league games under his belt, he produced 1.5 fWAR this season — the same as Aaron Hicks, who played 130 games.
The Yankees signed Cabrera as a 16-year-old out of Venezuela for $100,000 after signing his older brother, Leobaldo, who they’ve since released, for $250,000. When the Yankees discovered Cabrera, they thought one day he could become an everyday player because of how smart and well-rounded he was as an amateur. But there was no chance if he didn’t grow.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We knew he needed a lot of development and he needed a lot of body maturation,” Rowland said. “He needed Mother Nature to kick in and do her thing. That’s happened. He had hitter’s actions in both sides of the box. He made consistent quality contact. Defensively, he was sound and very projectable. His arm when we signed him was a little below major league average and that’s gotten better. We certainly thought he had a chance to be a major-league infielder. Whether that was shortstop or second, we had mixed opinions. Either way, we thought his bat would play enough to play either of those roles.”
Cabrera has since become one of the most versatile players across baseball — he is not just a middle infielder but also a corner infielder and corner outfielder. There’s a chance Cabrera could become the starting left fielder on opening day, but the current thinking is his true value lies with his versatility; he’ll still be given an opportunity in spring to win the job over Hicks or any of the other non-roster invitees.
The Yankees — from the front office to the players — have done nothing but rave about Cabrera since he made his debut, and he quickly became a fan favorite for the level of enthusiasm he brought to a team that severely needed a jolt of youthful energy when he arrived in August.
“The kicker with him was always the makeup,” Rowland said. “At that age (when we signed him), he was very bright, engaging and always had a smile on his face. He just loves to play the game. He’s great with people and is a great kid. We didn’t sign him just because he was a great kid; we signed him because he is a great baseball player but it certainly helped that he is such a good kid. He’s at ease with people. To me, that shows self-confidence. When someone is that at ease it tells you a lot about them and says they’re doing something right with their life.”
Roderick Arias’ health
Arias, the Yankees’ No. 1 prospect in the 2022 international free agency signing class, made his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League this past season as a 17-year-old. Arias played in 31 games for the Yankees’ Summer League team where he hit .194/.379/.370 and made 13 errors in 97 chances at shortstop; most of those errors were because of errant throws.
ADVERTISEMENT
A wrist injury delayed Arias’ debut by a few weeks and the effects of it hindered his performance throughout his season. The Yankees say he’s completely recovered now and feel like he’s made normal progression for a player his age. Since the Dominican Summer League season ended, Rowland said Arias has gotten stronger and has grown a bit with his power emerging even more than what he showed prior to the Yankees giving him a $4 million signing bonus.
The Yankees continue to like his arm strength despite his struggles with accuracy in his first season as a professional. Rowland said Arias is a top-of-the-scale arm and the plan is to continue developing him as a middle infielder.
“I think there’s every reason to believe right now that he’s going to stick at shortstop,” Rowland said. “That’s why we valued him so highly because he’s a switch-hitting shortstop and has offensive value with contact and power. If he was a left fielder, his value would not have been as high.”
Updates on other prospects
• Outfielder Everson Pereira is rated as the team’s No. 5 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, and could end up making his major-league debut at some point this season. He’s got 20-20 potential while being able to play every position in the outfield. Like many position player prospects, he needs to cut down on his strikeouts before getting time in the Bronx.
• First baseman/third baseman Andres Chaparro was the first prospect Rowland mentioned as a name to know moving forward. Chaparro has been on a tear in the minors ever since getting promoted to High A in 2021. Since then, the 23-year-old has slugged .561 and hit 25 home runs and 21 doubles in 102 games. He led Somerset this past season with 19 home runs and outperformed hyped prospects like Volpe, Austin Wells and Everson Pereria at the plate. He’ll likely see time in Triple A this season, if he doesn’t begin there. With Josh Donaldson becoming a free agent after this season and DJ LeMahieu potentially becoming a player whose workload needs to be more carefully managed, there’s a possible role for Chaparro with the Yankees in 2024 if he continues progressing.
• Carlos Lagrange is a 6-foot-7 righty out of the Dominican Republic who made his professional debut at 19 with the Yankees’ Dominican Summer League team this past season. Lagrange is a fireballer who’s already been clocked at throwing 100 miles per hour. He struck out 43 in 33 innings pitched as a starter but his command remains erratic; he walked 19 batters and had 13 wild pitches. If he can gain control of his arsenal, he has the stuff to move quickly in the system.
• Catcher Antonio Gomez signed with the Yankees out of Venezuela for $600,000 and has become the team’s best defensive catcher in the system. Gomez has committed just 17 errors in 903 2/3 innings over the past three seasons and he’s thrown out 31 percent of runners. Because of his defense, Gomez has a chance to at least become a backup catcher in the big leagues one day.
• Angel Benitez is another 19-year-old pitcher out of the Dominican Republic who has touched 98 and has plus secondary pitches but he ended up undergoing Tommy John surgery. Rowland believes Benitez might be the best pitcher in the Dominican but obviously his development is on pause as he rehabs.
• Jerson Alejandro signed with the Yankees in this signing period and the organization believes he’s one of the best overall pitchers in this class. He throws 98 with a plus changeup and good command at 6-foot-6 and 255 pounds.
(Top photo of Jasson Dominguez: Mark J. Rebilas/USA Today)
www.mlbtraderumors.com
アミーゴ
essential1
for sending my son a welcome to the world gift, a Mr October signed ball!
