Yankees reported 'slight shift' in willingness to trade Spencer Jones is too late

Back in the offseason when both the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago White Sox were reportedly asking the New York Yankees for top prospect Spencer Jones in any deal involving Corbin Burnes or Dylan Cease, Brian Cashman (and the fans) rightfully scoffed.

One year of Burnes for one of the most highly-rated prospects in all of baseball? Jones plus more for Cease, whose 2022 Cy Young runner-up campaign was sandwiched in between one solid season and one disastrous season? The answer is no.

Milwaukee ended up dealing Burnes to the Orioles for prospects Joey Ortiz and DL Hall, which we thought was a massive underpay and a slap in the Yankees' face. Turns out, it wasn't. Chicago got a haul of prospects for Cease (including former Yankee Drew Thorpe) in a deal with the Padres. San Diego traded three top-10 prospects and threw in a fourth name. They got the better end of that trade, too.

The Yankees were out-bid, and there was actually a consensus that it felt like the right decision. Come August, however, hindsight tells us the Yankees should've sold high on Jones and taken the ace-caliber pitcher, regardless of who it was.

Burnes and Cease are helping other contenders move to the front of the line, and neither team is regretting what they surrendered for the pitchers. Meanwhile, the Yankees have now reportedly "slightly shifted" in their willingness to trade Jones, which no longer matters because ... they can't trade him until November anyway! And they'd be selling at an all-time low based on his current stock!

Yankees reported 'slight shift' in willingness to trade Spencer Jones is too late

This is by no means an indictment on the front office. At the time, it felt like the Yankees were getting ripped off compared to the other packages, and that could still be true. A poor first half from Jones doesn't drastically alter his trajectory as a future everyday MLB player.

What's frustrating is that we're hearing about this particular development after all the trade action is over and also after Jones has hit just .246 with 149 strikeouts in 90 games this year at Double-A. Looking at those numbers, of course any team holding onto a player like that would be more willing to discuss a potential trade. But guess what? The return won't be Burnes or Cease, that's for sure!

It's never the Yankees' style to "sell low." They'd rather cling to the distressed asset until it defaults. So hearing about a potential shift in philosophy after they already missed their chance to become an undisputed World Series juggernaut only annoys fans because it only tells us the Yankees are ever so slowly learning they sometimes have to overpay to get what they want. And they continue to realize it after the fact.

So the Yankees are right back where they were in March — keep Jones and continue business as usual.