Latest news with #Spencer Jones
Forbes
a day ago
- Sport
- Forbes
The Yankees Could Trade Spencer Jones, The Best Hitter In The Minors
PORT ST. LUCIE, FL - MARCH 24: Spencer Jones #78 of the New York Yankees rounds the bases after ... More hitting a solo home run in the eighth inning during the game between the New York Yankees and the New York Mets at Clover Park on Monday, March 24, 2025 in Port St. Lucie, Florida. (Photo by Lucas Casel/MLB Photos via Getty Images) Aaron Judge is a singularity. No one else in MLB can put up numbers comparable to the reigning American League MVP, but there's someone matching him stat-for-stat in his own organization. New York Yankees prospect Spencer Jones has a Judge-like batting line—and he could be on his way out the door. Jones began the year with the Double-A Somerset Patriots, where he hit .274/.389/.594 with 16 home runs in 49 games. That earned him a promotion to Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre, where he has taken his game to absurd levels, batting .400/.457/.950 with 13 homers in 19 games. Across the two highest levels of affiliated ball, he leads all qualified minor leaguers in home runs (29), slugging percentage (.706), and OPS (1.116). His overall batting line this season is .314/.411/.706, which is reminiscent of Judge's .342/.449/.711 slash line—the components of which all lead MLB. Jones has drawn comparisons to Judge since he was drafted by the Yankees out of Vanderbilt in 2022. Both are California natives who were selected in the first round out of college. They're both outfielders who stand 6-foot-7 with immense power and more speed than expected—Jones has 16 stolen bases this year and 96 in four minor-league seasons—even though Jones bats left-handed and Judge hits from the right side. With Judge on the injured list since July 25 with a bad elbow, it seems like Jones would be a perfect roster replacement since it doesn't appear he has anything left to prove in the minors. Unfortunately, the two have something else in common—Jones hasn't played since his three-homer game on July 24 due to back spasms. A 24-year-old slugging center fielder in Triple-A seems like the kind of prospect the Yankees should make untradeable, but USA Today's Bob Nightengale reports that they could move him before this week's trade deadline. The team needs reinforcements, particularly for their pitching staff. Despite his Judge-like numbers, Jones is one of the most polarizing prospects in baseball. Many evaluators believe he'll never make enough contact to stick in the big leagues. In 2024, he set a Yankees organizational record with 200 strikeouts in 124 games and 544 plate appearances while playing in Double-A, which is an astounding 36.8% strikeout rate. To put that in context, only three qualified major leaguers have a strikeout rate higher than 30% this season, and none above Riley Greene's 32.7%. Again, that was in Double-A, and the pitching only gets tougher to hit at higher levels. He has made slight improvements this season, but perhaps not enough. He has 94 strikeouts in 302 plate appearances across Double-A and Triple-A, which is a 31.1% strikeout rate. Very few players fan that much in the minors and have success in MLB, as explained by J.J. Cooper of Baseball America. Another important statistic that portends a player's success is zone-contact rate, or how often the player makes contact when swinging at pitches in the strike zone. Most hitters have to reach a threshold of around 80% zone-contact in MLB to succeed, with a few rare exceptions. Jones' zone-contact rate in Triple-A is only 69.4%. He's obliterating the ball when he connects, but he's not putting bat to ball nearly often enough, and most players have even more difficulty making contact when they jump from Triple-A to MLB. Some analysts think Spencer Jones can overcome his contact woes while others believe they will doom him. With his exceptional numbers in the minors, his trade value has never been higher. We'll see how much the Yankees believe in him based on whether or not he's still with the organization in a few days.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Yankees prospect Spencer Jones smashes three home runs in first five innings against Rochester
Have a day, Spencer Jones. The Yankees' prized prospect is known for his power, and it was on full display on Thursday against Rochester, as the slugging outfielder belted three home runs in the first five innings. All three home runs came off of Rochester starter Bryce Conley and traveled more than 400 feet, with the third one carrying 433 feet to dead center. Jones, the Yankees' No. 4 overall prospect according to MLB Pipeline, has torn the cover off the ball since his promotion to Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre in late June. The 24-year-old now has 13 home runs to go along with a .405 average and a 1.424 OPS in just 19 games. A first-round pick of the Yankees in 2022, the left-handed hitting Jones has fans wondering what could be in the majors, especially with Yankee Stadium's short porch in right field, but he is also very likely to have his name included in any potential major deals ahead of the July 31 trade deadline. Here's a look at Jones' third homer of the afternoon:
New York Times
22-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Yankees' Spencer Jones ahead of the trade deadline: ‘I want to play in New York'
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. Advertisement 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. Advertisement 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. — 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. Advertisement '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)
New York Times
21-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Yankees trade deadline big board: 9 hitters the club could acquire
ATLANTA — The trade deadline is just 10 days away, and the New York Yankees figure to be one of the most aggressive teams. 'We're going to go to town,' Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told reporters earlier this month. 'We're going to do everything we possibly can to improve ourselves and try to match up, and hopefully at the end of it all, we'll have whatever is here on this current roster remaining healthy, and we'll add to it and be proud of that and take our shot.' Advertisement The club tends to trade from its Rule 5 draft-eligible prospects, of which there are several notable names including Rafael Flores, Spencer Jones, Jace Avina, Brendan Beck, Chase Hampton, Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz, Cam Schlittler, Henry Lalane and Brock Selvidge. If the Yankees make trades, do not be surprised if some of those players get dealt. Other prospects who could interest other clubs include Carlos Lagrange, Bryce Cunningham, Ben Hess, Griffin Herring and Allen Facundo. The Yankees could use a third baseman, a starting pitcher and multiple relievers. Cashman acknowledged how many needs the club has, but it may be impossible to fill all of them before the end of the month. He said pitching was his biggest priority, but before we break down which pitchers they could target on Wednesday, let's look at some of the hitters who could be of interest to the Yankees. Here are nine names to watch over the next 10 days. (Note: Salary and contract details are listed in parentheses after each hitter.) ($15 million in 2025; free agent at season's end) Suárez could be the biggest prize of the trade deadline. A major-league source told The Athletic that almost every contending team has checked in with the Arizona Diamondbacks about Suárez's availability. Arizona general manager Mike Hazen told MLB Network Radio that he still hasn't decided if his club will be trade deadline sellers. Suárez's fit in the Bronx is obvious. He's on pace for more than 50 home runs, and adding that kind of production to the Yankees' lineup would make the best offense in the sport even deeper. He's been a below-average defender at third base this season, but the Yankees would live with it because of how elite his offense is. Shh our favorite show is on. — Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) July 20, 2025 Even with Suárez being a rental, the cost to land him may end up being high because several of the top contending teams need third basemen. ($8.75 million in 2025; $8.75 million annually in 2026-29; club option in 2030) Hayes is the opposite of Suárez. He's one of the worst hitters in baseball; his 60 wRC+ ranks third-to-last in MLB. But he's the best defensive third baseman. Hayes has 13 outs above average this season; the next closest is Matt Chapman at five. Advertisement Hayes, who is the son of former Yankees third baseman Charlie Hayes, has some fans in the Bronx. There's belief that his defense could be a legitimate difference-maker, and the Yankees would try to nurse his bat back to health. Hayes has posted above-average rates in exit velocity and hard-hit percentage, so perhaps with some mechanical tweaks he could be at least an average hitter. The 28-year-old is still owed more than $26 million through 2029 — which isn't extreme — but to take on his salary, maybe the Yankees could also get starting pitcher Mitch Keller or reliever David Bednar in a possible deal. ($11.67 million in 2025; $16 million annually in 2026-27) If Suárez was on one end of the spectrum and Hayes the other, McMahon would be somewhere in the middle. Jazz Chisholm Jr. told The Athletic he considers McMahon to be one of the most underrated players in the sport. McMahon has graded out as one of the 10 best defensive third basemen this season, but his offense is below average. Since debuting in 2017, McMahon has never had a season in which he's been at least league average in wRC+, and that's with playing half of his games at hitter-friendly Coors Field. McMahon, a left-handed hitter, may not benefit from playing half of his games at Yankee Stadium. According to Statcast, if McMahon played all of his games at Yankee Stadium, he'd have his lowest home run output among all 30 stadiums. ($5 million in 2025; free agent at season's end) Moncada is having his best season since his breakout year with the Chicago White Sox in 2019. He has a 135 wRC+ in 37 games for the Angels, and it's not a fluke. He's posting his best contact-quality metrics since 2019. Moncada is a poor defender at third base, but he would offer considerably better offense than Oswald Peraza or Jorbit Vivas. Advertisement The price to land Moncada should not be exorbitant in terms of prospect capital, and his salary is reasonable for a rental. ($3.15 million in 2025; third year of arbitration in 2026; free agent in 2027) Urías posted a 114 wRC+ in 2024, but his offense has taken a hit in 2025. He's having the worst offensive season of his career, but he's been one of the top 10 defensive third basemen this year. Orioles general manager Mike Elias told MLB Network Radio that he's listening to trade offers for players who are nearing the end of their contracts. Urías has one more year of club control remaining, but it would make sense for the Orioles to move him if they could. One benefit to Urías is he has positional versatility; he's appeared at first and second base this season and has previously played shortstop. ($6.4 million in 2025; free agent at season's end) Castro has been an above-average bat for three consecutive seasons and is in the midst of his best year since the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He's played second base, third base, shortstop, left field, center field and right field this season for the Minnesota Twins. WILLI FAR!!!! — Minnesota Twins (@Twins) July 19, 2025 Think of Castro as a better version of Oswaldo Cabrera, whom the Yankees love for his versatility. ($6.28 million in 2025; free agent at season's end) Kiner-Falefa could be an upgrade over Peraza and Vivas at third base, but he's more of a bench player than a starter. If the objective was to upgrade Peraza's spot on the bench and also acquire someone else, Kiner-Falefa could make sense. He's a below-average hitter whose main value is his versatility. Kiner-Falefa wanted to return to New York when he became a free agent after the 2023 season, but the Toronto Blue Jays paid him more than what the Yankees wanted to spend on a utility infielder. Advertisement ($2 million in 2025; free agent at season's end) The Yankees have been interested in signing Rosario as a free agent for a few seasons now. Rosario is a below-average fielder, but he provides versatility at second and third base. He could also play shortstop in a pinch. He's having his best offensive season since 2022, and with the Washington Nationals in full sell mode, he should be traded by the July 31 deadline. The Yankees should prioritize other players over Rosario, but he would not be a bad backup option. ($1.1 million in 2025; free agent at season's end) Urías should be considered in the Kiner-Falefa category. If the objective is to upgrade Peraza's spot as a bench player, then sure. Urías is a light-hitting second/third baseman, though he has more offensive upside than Peraza. In 2021 and 2022 with the Milwaukee Brewers, Urías was an above-average hitter. (Photo of Eugenio Suarez: Norm Hall / Getty Images)
