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Yankees Make Decision on Top Prospect After Gerrit Cole Elbow Surgery

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jake Elman | Last updated Mar 11, 2025 6:43 PM ET

New York Yankees fans searching for an influx of good news following Gerrit Cole’s elbow surgery won’t find it in young outfielder Spencer Jones.

The Yankees reassigned Jones, a consensus top-5 prospect in their farm system, to minor-league camp Tuesday afternoon. Jones hit .274 with two home runs, six RBI, and two doubles across 25 plate appearances.

Jones turned heads earlier in camp when he smashed an opposite-field home run in his first spring at-bat. The 23-year-old also robbed St. Louis Cardinals catcher Leonardo Bernal of a homer last weekend.

It is unclear where the 6-foot-6, 235-pound Jones will start the season. He hit .259 with 17 home runs, 78 RBI, 30 doubles, 35 stolen bases, and a .789 OPS in 124 Double-A games.

However, Jones struck out a troubling 200 times, potentially keeping him from moving up to Triple-A. He followed that up with 11 strikeouts in 23 plate appearances this spring.

Realistically, Jones was never going to crack the Yankees’ Opening Day roster, even after Giancarlo Stanton and DJ LeMaheiu’s recent injuries. The Yankees have enough outfielders, though they surprisingly demoted Everson Pereira to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday.

Jones and Pereira’s new assignments bode well for former New York Mets top prospect Dominic Smith, who profiles as a backup first baseman and designated hitter. Smith is in camp as a non-roster invitee after splitting 2024 between the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds.

Still, don’t be surprised to see Jones in pinstripes this summer. The Yankees promoted Aaron Judge late in 2016 after selling at the trade deadline and realizing they faced an extremely difficult path to the postseason.

Could history repeat itself in the coming months? At this point, Jones and Judge might share a lineup before July 4 if the injuries keep piling up.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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