Yankees Trade for Outfielder to Fix Jasson Dominguez Weak Split

The New York Yankees continued to add depth on Wednesday, acquiring outfielder Austin Slater from the White Sox as Aaron Judge remains sidelined with an elbow injury. 

Slater, 32, is a right-handed hitter with a long track record of punishing lefties. That is exactly the kind of bat the Yankees need to complement Jasson Dominguez in left field. Dominguez has held his own overall this season but has shown a sharp split. The Yankees’ rookie is slashing .291/.367/.537 from the left side, compared to just .176/.243/.324 right-handed.

That imbalance could open the door to a platoon, and Slater fits the bill. 

He’s slashing .263/.369/.490 against lefties this season with an .859 OPS and has a career .836 OPS vs. left-handers. In 51 games for the White Sox this year, Slater hit .236 with five home runs and 11 RBIs while seeing time in all three outfield spots.

To land Slater, the Yankees sent pitching prospect Gage Ziehl to Chicago. Ziehl, 22, was the club’s No. 18 prospect per MLB Pipeline and posted a 4.15 ERA across 17 starts for High-A Hudson Valley. He’s a high-floor arm with solid command who projects as a back-end starter or long reliever. The Yankees have built enough pitching depth in the low minors to make Ziehl expendable.

This is the Yankees’ third trade for a position player in the past week, following deals for Ryan McMahon and Amed Rosario. All three give Aaron Boone more lineup options as the Yankees navigate life without Judge and gear up for the stretch run.

To make room on the 40-man roster, Clarke Schmidt was transferred to the 60-day injured list, effectively ending his season.

Pitching reportedly remains the club’s top deadline focus. Still with less than 36 hours to the MLB 2025 trade deadline, the Yankees had not made a trade to bring in any help for their bullpen or rotation.