There was a flurry of New York Yankees rumors ahead of the MLB trade deadline hinting at the team pulling off another blockbuster trade after landing Jazz Chisholm Jr. Now, we might know why the Yankees front office didn’t make another big move.
It wasn’t for a lack of effort. The Detroit Tigers wouldn’t move Cy Young contender Tarik Skubal without a historic haul and Chicago White Sox ace Garrett Crochet essentially blocked a trade by demanding a contract extension to pitch in October.
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Still, New York inquired on just about every top player who was floated in MLB trade rumors and it even pursued options that weren’t available. However, in conversations with teams, New York found out that one of the Yankees top prospects isn’t well-regarded around the league.
According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, the Yankees offered top prospect Spencer Jones in multiple trade packages for a top pitcher. However, each club New York spoke with regarding Jones balked at his inclusion and price due to his woes at the plate this season.
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- Spencer Jones stats (FanGraphs): .246/.328/.419, 14 home runs, 21 steals, 63 RBI, .748 OPS with the New York Yankees’ Double-A affiliate
In his age-23 season, Jones has shown some alarming swing-and-miss to his game. Entering MLB games today, the outfielder has a 36.9 percent strikeout rate in 445 plate appearances. He’s been even worse at the plate in recent months, posting a .233/.322/.421 line with a 39.5 percent strikeout rate since July 1.
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Nightengale’s report comes just a few weeks after Jones received an alarming MLB comparison from talent evaluators around baseball. Once viewed as of the best prospects in baseball, Jones will likely be sliding down the list of Yankees top prospects in 2025.