Yankees expected to sign ‘stud’ international prospect Jasson Dominguez
While the Yankees scour the trade market for a starting pitcher to add for the stretch run, they could make an even more significant addition Tuesday.
That’s when the Yankees are expected to sign Jasson Dominguez, considered by many to be not just the top international player available this year, but perhaps the best in quite some time.
“Our guys loved him,” one American League executive said. “Our international [scout] said he’s the best player he’s seen on the international circuit in his career.”
And like several other scouts and general managers said when asked about the 16-year-old outfielder, the AL exec called him “a legitimate stud.”
The comparisons Dominguez, who is from the Dominican Republic, has drawn vary from Yasiel Puig to Yoan Moncada.
This time of year, teams tend to salivate over players, some only as old as some high school sophomores, making hyperbole easy to find.
But perhaps the most crucial element to organizations’ pursuit of Dominguez is his price tag. He’s expected to sign for $5 million. The Yankees have roughly $5.4 million in international pool money to spend during this signing period, which begins Tuesday.
“That tells you all you need to know about him,” another AL scout said. “That’s a crazy number and if the Yankees don’t give it to him, someone else will. That’s what teams think of his skills.”
That figure would blow away the Yankees’ previous high for an international player, which came in 2014, when they signed shortstop Dermis Garcia for $3.2 million.
Now 21, Garcia is with Class-A Tampa and more of a corner infielder after a brief flirtation with pitching.
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In 2009, Gary Sanchez got $3 million from the Yankees and has blossomed into one of the game’s best hitters.
But Sanchez’s success story shows it will take time before an impact is felt by Dominguez at the major league level.
Executives from several teams, though, noted Dominguez’s physical maturity.
He’s listed at 5-11, 195 pounds and scouts raved about his overall tools. Several believed he’d make it to the majors sooner than most.
Dominguez is “incredibly strong” and “looks like a grown man,” said an NL assistant GM, who added the switch hitter has a better swing from the left side.
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Originally a catcher, the stocky Dominguez is now considered quick enough to play center field.
“There’s no physical progression left, but he has ‘now’ tools,” said an NL executive.
Dominguez has speed and arm strength, as well as power from both sides of the plate.
Wherever he winds up, Dominguez is expected to be considered a top 100 to 150 prospect in the game, according to Baseball America. And he would no doubt be among the top prospects in the Yankees’ organization, alongside outfielder Estevan Florial and right-hander Deivi Garcia.
Of course, there are plenty of cautionary tales when it comes to international talent. The one that likely strikes closest to home for the Yankees came in 2006, when they gave Jesus Montero $1.6 million and the catcher never developed the way they — and many other teams — envisioned. The Yankees shipped him to Seattle in exchange for Michael Pineda following the 2011 season and Montero played just one full season in the majors and was released by Baltimore — his last major-league affiliation — in 2018. Whether Dominguez ends up another Sanchez or Montero won’t be known for a while, but the journey is set to begin Tuesday.
— Additional reporting by Joel Sherman
