Yankees' Spencer Jones ahead of the trade deadline: ‘I want to play in New York'

New York Times

6 days ago

Spencer Jones, the New York Yankees' No. 2 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, is not oblivious to where we are in the baseball calendar.
There are nine days remaining until the trade deadline, and Jones is one of the most hotly debated prospects in the sport. What the Yankees decide to do with Jones at this year's deadline might tell the public how they truly feel about the 24-year-old slugger. Keep him, and it could signal Jones is the Yankees' center fielder of the future, perhaps as soon as 2026. Trade him, and it might mean the club doesn't believe a player with his profile can have success in the big leagues.
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Jones can't avoid the trade rumors because his friends across the country are continually sending him content that features him. But he doesn't mind it one bit. In fact, one recent post that a friend passed along still makes him burst out in laughter days later.
'There was a post of me hitting a home run and one of the comments was, 'Get ready to speak desert, buddy,'' Jones told The Athletic. 'That's a really good one. I saw that and was dying laughing. That is just so good. To me, that's the really fun part about baseball at this time of year. I really like the creativity that fans have. It's awesome. I don't know if I can speak desert.'
Jones is referencing being a possible target of the Arizona Diamondbacks, who the Yankees have been linked to given their interest in third baseman Eugenio Suárez. The Yankees are one of several teams who have expressed interest in acquiring Suárez, an impending free agent who is arguably the best bat on the market. But whether the Yankees would include Jones in a trade for a rental remains to be seen.
Yankees fans on the internet remain split on how they view Jones. Some believe he should only be traded for a star-level talent. In 16 Triple-A games, Jones has hit 10 home runs. His 26 home runs are tied for the most across the minor leagues this season. His 1.106 OPS can't be ignored. That kind of production makes the job of the Yankees' front office challenging because if Jones does become a star in the majors, the organization will never hear the end of it.
But there are also dissenters who believe Jones' swing-and-miss tendencies and lack of contact are impossible to ignore. He is whiffing on 37.6 percent of his swings in Triple A, and his 74.8 percent in-zone contact rate would rank second-to-last in MLB. Those numbers would be expected to get worse when facing major-league pitching.
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So, there's the dilemma that the Yankees face. Do they believe Jones' power potential is so tantalizing that they need to see it in the majors, or do they trade him when his value may never be higher?
If Jones had it his way, there's no doubt where he wants to play.
'I was just talking to my girlfriend about this, but at the end of the day, I want to play in New York and be a part of this organization and stay loyal to it,' said Jones, the Yankees' 2022 first-round draft pick. 'That's a big part of who I am and where I want to go in my career.'
Jones said he hasn't been told by the organization whether he has anything to worry about regarding a possible trade. He has told staff members in the past that he prefers to have few thoughts in his head when playing, and he feels like he's finally at a point where he's confident at the plate.
The 6-foot-7 outfielder has tinkered with his stance several times this season, and the latest iteration is here to stay. It's a unique-looking swing for someone his size where he'll crouch low, open his hips wide and then have an exaggerated leg kick. But it's working for him. He credits his stance for helping him have success this year.
'In spring, there were issues with my ability to recognize pitches and make a decision right away,' Jones said. 'Where I'm at now, people may look at it and think it's not simple, but the move and the way it works is very simple. I kind of just move my body, let myself see the pitch and let my body swing. That's where it's been. I am glad to have been able to produce the results I have.'
Spencer Jones is the man of a thousand stances but here are some of the more recent changes. There's a healthy sample of elite success with his latest change. He's put himself in a better position to attack pitches in the zone with authority. pic.twitter.com/wzpDQLohDH
— Yankeesource (@YankeeSource) July 21, 2025
A major change from this past offseason has also contributed to his breakout. Jones made his swing path as steep as possible to exaggerate hitting the baseball in the air to the pull side. He traded ground balls for fly balls in 2025. Jones' fly-ball rate in 2024 was 29.2 percent. It's 40.3 percent this season. His ground-ball rate in 2024 was 42.3 percent, and it's 29.9 percent this year. With his raw power, it's no coincidence the change has led to him having the best wRC+ (205) in the minor leagues.
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'We worked really hard to add steepness to my path to a point where I was doing it to a fault in the beginning of the year and at the end of spring, I had one of the steepest swings in the league,' Jones said. 'Throughout the year, the tinkering has been to re-flatten it because the swing was so steep. There's going to be a natural arc to the swing. I've been focused on flattening the path to let those fly balls I hit to left field have a little more carry or the line drives to right get a little more backspin. It's a delicate balance.'
Generally, Yankees manager Aaron Boone is not asked about what happens in the minors, mainly because he is focused on the big-league club. But Jones' demolition of minor-league pitching has made its way to Boone as he's been asked about Jones multiple times over the past few days. It's becoming impossible for anyone to not pay attention.
'As a bigger guy, I think it's harder to master mechanics and skills as a hitter,' Boone said. 'But when you can, and you do, obviously, I think you have advantages just with your strength and your leverage and things like that. So he's made a lot of adjustments over the last couple of years, and it's good to see that those adjustments in Double and Triple A have paid off for him so far.'
Jones' value in MLB wouldn't be just with his bat, as he's a good defensive center fielder with exceptional speed. If he could be an average to slightly-below-average bat in the majors, he'd still be a valuable player on any roster because there aren't many center fielders who are elite hitters. Boone believes Jones has the ability to stick in center field whenever he gets to the big leagues, but he could also see him turn into a plus fielder in the corners.
Jones is one of the most perplexing players in terms of his big-league future. Could he become Joey Gallo? Is he Franchy Cordero? Or if he realizes his full potential, can he mirror Aaron Judge's production? Evaluators dropped Jones off their top prospect lists before this season began, but Baseball America just moved him up to No. 3 in the Yankees' system.
Jones said he understands why some may be skeptical of his production, but he's never had more confidence in his game. These next nine days will tell us if the Yankees feel similarly.
'I knew there were glimpses of what I was capable of in seasons past, but the production, I had never felt true to myself or consistent,' Jones said. 'I think the way things have worked out this year is just a product of me being more comfortable within myself to flow naturally. I'm not worried about what the stance looks like or what anything else looks like. I'm just feeling good playing baseball.'
(Photo of Spencer Jones with Double-A Somerset: Jess Stiles / Associated Press)