In the first significant cuts of camp, the Yankees optioned a pair of top prospects in outfielder Spencer Jones and righty Elmer Rodríguez.
Jones enjoyed another strong spring with the major league club, going 6-for-18 with three home runs, a double and three steals. He walked four times and struck out six times in the Grapefruit League.
He is expected to start the season at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he left off last season and displayed both prodigious power and a tendency to swing and miss too often.
Yankees center fielder Spencer Jones slaps hands with Yankees manager Aaron Boone #17, after hitting a solo homer in a spring training game. Charles Wenzelberg / New York PostJones was never going to make the team out of camp with Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham installed in the outfield plus Giancarlo Stanton set at DH.
The message to Jones?
“As much as you can, don’t focus on things that right now might be out of your control a little bit,” said manager Aaron Boone, who added that the move is purely transactional and that Jones would be playing in Tuesday’s game. “Reality is he’s coming off a really strong season. I feel like he continues to make really solid adjustments. He came in here to spring and has represented really well. Has performed. You see the signs of him continuing to get better.”
Rodríguez showed well in camp, allowing two runs on five hits and a walk in six innings in which he struck out five.
The third-best Yankees prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, he only appeared in two games because he left to pitch for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic.
