If there is one thing that the New York Yankees don’t do quietly, it’s reshuffling their future. And right now, no name is making the rounds louder than the 24-year-old towering prospect – Spencer Jones. The outfielder has suddenly gone from being the Yankees’ spotlight to being pitched as someone out of pinstripes.

Jim Bowden suggested the Yankees might be willing to put Jones on the table for one reason–in pursuit of Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara. And Bowden didn’t sugarcoat a thing. “If the Yankees decided they would give up Spencer Jones, they could sign Kyle Tucker in free agency and trade Spencer Jones for Alcantara… and that could be a game changer.”

And just like that, Jones’s career got a whole lot more complicated!

Now, for most teams, a kid who slashed 35 homers in 116 minor league games would be a no-brainer. But the Yankees are not “most teams”. But with Aaron Judge, Jasson Dominguez, Trent Grisham, and Cody Bellinger also possibly returning, Jones’s power is overshadowed–and even more so by a big red flag, a 35.4% strikeout rate. That’s the kind of number that makes the front office pause and look.

So instead of putting him into left field, the Yankees are maybe thinking of something bigger. Yanks can flip him for an established ace while signing someone like Kyle Tucker to fill the gap.

Here is where things get juicier, and it involves the Dodgers–if the Yankees manage such a move, it could torpedo the Dodgers’ $56 million plan to get Alcantara. LA has been lining up carefully engineered multi-prospect offers from Zyhir Hope, Eduardo Quintero, Mike Sirota, and Alex Freeland—one that Miami reportedly likes.

Alcantara fits perfectly into the Dodgers’ overhaul, too–at $17 million annually through 2026. But all this goes out the window if the Yankees do what the rumours say–send Spencer Jones out of the Bronx.

The New York Yankees might have the road to Imai clear

If you are a New York Yankee fan waiting for the big splash, then Tatsuya Imai might be one name to circle. All the signs are lining up for it, and other teams are bowing out due to Imai’s own bold comments. And suddenly, the Yanks look like one of the last teams standing to get him.

Firstly, the team that was initially thought to be most interested was the San Francisco Giants. Turns out that maybe not. Buster Olney from ESPN mentioned that the Giants aren’t planning to shell out big for any of the big names this winter. In fact, he mentioned that their pitching enquiries have been for mid-tier arms–so a strong hint they aren’t going for Imai.

So, unless this report is noise, the Giants are kind of off the table. Then there were the Dodgers, the team that is known to clinch the Japanese players, be they Shohei Ohtani or Roki Sasaki. He basically said he’d rather beat the Dodgers than join them.

His exact words to Daisuke Matsuzaka were that winning against a powerhouse like L.A. would mean more to him than joining Ohtani, Yamamoto, and Sasaki. Now, whether that’s clever or a real sign that he wants a different path for himself, you can decide.

But if you are the Yankees, this just got the heavyweights out. Plus, another reason the chances feel real for the Yankees to land him is that the Jays already made a big play with Cease. So they might want to pull out of this sweepstakes for financial reasons.

Yankee seems pretty much on the clear. Don’t they? Unless their younger brother, aka Mets, comes out to make things interesting, and well, they could. But with LA out, the Giants stepping back, and Toronto already having made a splash, the Yankees have a clear lane to go after an NPB ace for the first time since Masahiro Tanaka.