{"id":29991,"date":"2025-03-02T09:20:41","date_gmt":"2025-03-02T09:20:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=29991"},"modified":"2025-03-02T09:20:41","modified_gmt":"2025-03-02T09:20:41","slug":"harsh-critique-yankees-5-1m-rookie-outfielder-labeled-maybe-worst-defender-of-all-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=29991","title":{"rendered":"HARSH CRITIQUE: Yankees&#8217; $5.1M Rookie Outfielder Labeled \u2018Maybe Worst Defender of All Time\u2019!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When the New York Yankees paid\u00a0a franchise-record $5.1 million\u00a0bonus to sign then 16-year-old Jasson Dom\u00ednguez out of the Dominican Republic in 2019, scouts described him as &#8220;an elite level athlete&#8221; with &#8220;elite baseball tools.&#8221; The teenager with the odd nickname &#8220;The Martian,&#8221; supposedly due to\u00a0his &#8220;otherworldly&#8221; talent\u00a0on the diamond, was &#8220;the kind of player who makes the hair on your arm stand up.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Since Dominguez has been given his shot at the major leagues, however, it may be the hair on Yankee fans&#8217; heads that stands up \u2013 out of sheer fright. Not due to the rookie&#8217;s batting prowess, which remains mostly unquestioned, but due to his defense in left field.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"imageBox\">\n<div class=\"innerBox ar23-innerBox\"><picture class=\"mapping-embed\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2598231\/yankees-rookie-outfielder-jasson-martian-dominguez.webp?w=790&amp;f=c5310096bbb22fff98dcc6ffa8d4c96b 1x\" type=\"image\/webp\" media=\"(min-width: 992px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2598231\/yankees-rookie-outfielder-jasson-martian-dominguez.jpg?w=790&amp;f=c5310096bbb22fff98dcc6ffa8d4c96b 1x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"(min-width: 992px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2598231\/yankees-rookie-outfielder-jasson-martian-dominguez.webp?w=900&amp;f=8aab3a0224e184b13cd8a851374df316 1x\" type=\"image\/webp\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2598231\/yankees-rookie-outfielder-jasson-martian-dominguez.jpg?w=900&amp;f=8aab3a0224e184b13cd8a851374df316 1x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2598231\/yankees-rookie-outfielder-jasson-martian-dominguez.webp?w=790&amp;f=c5310096bbb22fff98dcc6ffa8d4c96b 1x\" type=\"image\/webp\" media=\"(min-width: 481px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2598231\/yankees-rookie-outfielder-jasson-martian-dominguez.jpg?w=790&amp;f=c5310096bbb22fff98dcc6ffa8d4c96b 1x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"(min-width: 481px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2598231\/yankees-rookie-outfielder-jasson-martian-dominguez.webp?w=450&amp;f=1e78094dc7bc0a89f8bdb132df393643 1x\" type=\"image\/webp\" media=\"(min-width: 0px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2598231\/yankees-rookie-outfielder-jasson-martian-dominguez.jpg?w=450&amp;f=1e78094dc7bc0a89f8bdb132df393643 1x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"(min-width: 0px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2598231\/yankees-rookie-outfielder-jasson-martian-dominguez.webp?w=1200&amp;f=830857133797a24f8659ff0a0f9c82ec\" type=\"image\/webp\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"i2598231\" class=\"mapping-embed imgPhoto\" src=\"https:\/\/d.newsweek.com\/en\/full\/2598231\/yankees-rookie-outfielder-jasson-martian-dominguez.jpg?w=1200&amp;f=830857133797a24f8659ff0a0f9c82ec\" alt=\"Yankees rookie outfielder Jasson &quot;The Martian&quot; Dominguez\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" \/><\/picture><\/div><figcaption class=\"caption ar23-caption\"><span id=\"short-cap-description\" class=\"cap\">CLEARWATER, FLORIDA &#8211; FEBRUARY 27: Jasson Dom\u00ednguez #24 of the New York Yankees misses a fly ball off the bat of Edmundo Sosa (not pictured) of the Philadelphia Phillies in the third inning during a&#8230;<\/span>\u00a0<button id=\"read-more-cap\">More<\/button>\u00a0<span class=\"credit ar23-credit\">Julio Aguilar\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The numbers bear out those fears.\u00a0According to Fangraphs\u00a0Defensive Runs Saved metric, in just 13 big league games spread over 2023 and 2024, Dominguez is already responsible for allowing four more runs than an average outfielder. If he were to play 162 games \u2014 that is, every game in a full season \u2014 Dominguez would have been responsible for 49.8 extra runs, at rate he is going.<\/p>\n<p>Measured by the\u00a0Fangraphs defensive runs saved\u00a0metric, the all-time worst outfielder was Jermaine Dye, who played\u00a01,763 games from 1996 to 2009. Over his career Dye was responsible for allowing 65 more runs than average. On a per-162 game basis, Dye allowed 5.97 extra runs.<\/p>\n<p>While the sample size for Dominguez is obviously small, an outfield defensive performance more than eight times worse than the worst ever recorded is not a good sign, to say the least.<\/p>\n<p>The now-22-year-old, on whom the Yankees are counting to hold down left field this season, has seen his struggles continue into spring training. He dropped a fly ball to turn an out into a double for Philadelphia Phillies hitter Edmundo Sosa in\u00a0a Thursday game that ended\u00a0in a 7-7 tie.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It wasn&#8217;t his first mistake of the preseason, either,&#8221; wrote\u00a0Alexander Wilson of Empire Sports Media\u00a0on Friday. &#8220;He&#8217;s already lost a ball in the sun and misjudged a double into the gap, moments that highlight just how raw his outfield play still is.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It was that type of outfield play that on Thursday prompted Boston-area sports television personality and podcaster Jared Carrabis to take to his X (formerly\u00a0Twitter) account to\u00a0describe Dominguez as\u00a0&#8220;a horrendous defender. Maybe the worst of all-time.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It was not just Boston bias from Carrabis. One\u00a0Yankee fan online\u00a0described himself as &#8220;scared&#8221; to see Dominguez in left field, while another wrote, &#8220;Definitely worried about Jasson&#8217;s defense in left. He just doesn&#8217;t look comfortable out there. Yikes!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>New York sports talk host Keith McPherson of WFAN radio also expressed deep concern over Dominguez&#8217;s defense,\u00a0in a Friday broadcast.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is the time to have the conversation and maybe have some alternatives. The whole baseball world just mocked the Yankees for their defense,&#8221; McPherson said. &#8220;Why throw this young man into left field if he&#8217;s not prepared?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>One obvious, if short-term, answer would be to simply\u00a0move Dominguez to the designated hitter role, as long as regular DH\u00a0Giancarlo Stanton remains injured\u00a0and unable to play. But\u00a0Jason Burgos of Sportsnaut\u00a0on Saturday suggested a &#8220;win-win&#8221; trade scenario that would send starting pitcher Marcus Stroman to the Mets for outfielder Starling Marte.<\/p>\n<p>The problem with that scenario is that Stroman, previously considered expendable, now appears headed back into the Yankees starting rotation after all, thanks to an\u00a0injury to last year&#8217;s Rookie of the Year\u00a0Luis Gil.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When the New York Yankees paid\u00a0a franchise-record $5.1 million\u00a0bonus to sign then 16-year-old Jasson Dom\u00ednguez out of the Dominican Republic in 2019, scouts described him as &#8220;an&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29995,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>HARSH CRITIQUE: Yankees&#039; $5.1M Rookie Outfielder Labeled \u2018Maybe Worst Defender of All Time\u2019! 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