Yankees' Randal Grichuk signing is bad news for Jasson Dominguez

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Yankees' Randal Grichuk signing is bad news for Jasson Dominguez originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

There are no guarantees, of course. Just because the New York Yankees signed Randal Grichuk in free agency on Wednesday night doesn't mean he has a roster spot with his name on it.

But he certainly would fit the mold of exactly what the Yanks were looking for. And if he proves it this spring, it could be bad news for Jasson Dominguez.

The Yankees were devoid of a right-handed hitting outfielder. Now they've got one, a veteran with 212 career home runs in the major leagues.

Dominguez already was looking at a bench role, at best. Trent Grisham, Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge will start in the outfield, with Giancarlo Stanton at DH. There's nowhere for Dominguez to go.

There'd already been speculation that he might start the season at Triple-A. Dominguez is a switch-hitter, but he's much worse against left-handed pitching, so that aspect of his game didn't solve the Yankees' potential platoon problem in the way Grichuk could.

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MLB insider Jon Heyman wrote on X, "Addition of righty hitting OF is more evidence Jason Dominguez may be ticketed to AAA to start season."

The trickiest part for Dominguez in all of this is that if the Yankees stay healthy, there will remain no path to playing time.

This isn't a situation of trying to delay a service time clock, or letting him get a chance to mash against Triple-A pitching.

This is a team that built its roster in a way that doesn't really have space for Dominguez. If Grichuk makes the club, that's even more true.

Maybe that eventually turns Dominguez into a trade candidate. For now, it simply means the former top prospect has an even steeper hill to climb toward relevance this season.

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