WFAN's unhinged Jasson Dominguez-Spencer Jones analogy has Yankees fans confused

Much of the storyline at New York Yankees' spring training has been how good many of the young players have looked. Most of those youngsters weren't in contention for big league roles on Opening Day, but for Jasson Dominguez and, to a lesser extent, Spencer Jones, impressing might have just gotten them there.

Both young outfielders have impressed. Spencer Jones hit .333/.429/.917 with some majestic displays of power before his demotion, while Dominguez has slashed .371/.395/.686 so far through 12 spring contests. It's been exciting times. These are the kinds of performances that have folks taking notice.

However, the path to a roster spot isn't easy. The Yankees have a three-time MVP winner occupying right field, a former NL Rookie of the Year and NL MVP occupying left field, and a guy they just gave $22 million via the qualifying offer in center. One of these youngsters might make the cut, but there's no way there is room for both.

Unless you're WFAN's Danielle McCartan. She advocates for both of them to get big league roster spots, and does so in a way that is ... unique.

"Did you know that a vertical greenhouse in Genoa, the region of Liguria, northwestern Italy, but this vertical greenhouse in Genoa, they wait until basil leaves are exactly six inches tall before they pluck them," she began before continuing to actually make her point. "I'll tell you something, Spencer Jones and Jasson Dominguez are six inches tall right now. They're ripe for the picking, and yet, they're going to grow down on the farm."

Horticulture aside, the point she's trying to make through that pained analogy is that both of these guys are ready and should be with the major league club. There are quite a few reasons why she is wrong.

Yankees fans need to be patient with Jasson Dominguez and Spencer Jones despite roster hurdles

McCartan goes on to say that it might just be too late when Brian Cashman is ready to promote them from Scranton. She tries to assuage concerns about Dominguez's defense by suggesting that he be moved back to center field, except she also wants him to split time with Spencer Jones in center field.

"What's more, you're going to force these guys now to either play out of position, continue to, or to split time in center field. Why not just do it at the major league level?" she argues.

Take a step back. The vast majority of minor leaguers begin their careers at three different positions  — shortstop, center field, or catcher. It's only when they prove that they can't handle the premium position that they get moved to an easier one.

That's what's happened with Dominguez. The Yankees have watched him grow up in center and, from those thousands of minor league innings, have come to the conclusion that he can't handle the position. That's why they moved him to left field in the first place.

So if you're going to play one of them outside of center, they both need to be playing every day. There's a case to be made that Trent Grisham's cold spring should motivate the Yankees to have him on a short leash and make him the fourth outfielder if he continues to struggle offensively. That still only opens one spot in the outfield. Judge and Bellinger aren't going anywhere. Best case, you can carry either Jones or Dominguez, but not both.

More importantly, a few dozen spring at-bats don't prove as much as she's insinuating. Jones was scorching hot last July and looked to have put his strikeout woes behind him. Then he spent his final 46 games regressing and striking out at a 42.3% clip. It's going to take more than 30-ish at-bats in spring training while pitchers are still knocking off the rust to prove he's truly leveled up.

As for Dominguez, the same is true about his issues batting right-handed. We can be encouraged by what we've seen, but truthfully, it's been a small fraction of an already small sample.

The simple fact of the matter is, unlike Genoese basil, young players don't grow at a steady rate. They might get right up close to the magical "six-inch mark" just to shoot back down to the five-inch range before skyrocketing to a new, unforeseen height. The best way for this duo to develop is to get consistent at-bats in Scranton for the time being. Sitting on the bench or operating with each other in a time share just delays their ripening process.