Yankees future trade negotiations take a hit after Paul Skenes-Spencer Jones rumor

At last season's trade deadline, the New York Yankees made one thing clear. Their mountainous prospect, Spencer Jones, was off the table for nearly everyone. The 24-year-old was virtually untouchable, even if Brian Cashman wouldn't say so.

Except for one player. Rumor had it that the only star New York would consider swapping the Vanderbilt product for was none other than Pittsburgh Pirates superstar Paul Skenes. Today, this sounds ridiculous.

Skenes is a full year younger than Jones, won the 2025 NL Cy Young, and has emerged as the unquestioned top ace in the game. However, at the time in late July, Jones looked like he was about to bust out and become the dominant force at the plate that the Yankees were hoping for.

Last July, Jones slashed .419/.477/.946 with 11 home runs, taking home International League Player of the Month honors in the process. Skenes might be this generation's Roger Clemens, but Jones seemed like he could be today's Barry Bonds. There was only one big difference. Jones had reached these elite heights for the first time in his minor league career. Skenes lived in this stratosphere permanently.

As quickly as he took off, the young outfielder came crashing back to earth. Over the season's final 46 games, Jones' troublesome strikeout habit boomed, soaring to an eye-watering 42.3%. His OPS over that stretch fell to .656.

Last year's Paul Skenes rumors show the Yankees overplayed their hand with Spencer Jones in trade negotiations

Jones has always been regarded as a boom-or-bust prospect. The hope has been that sooner rather than later, he'd pick a lane and stick to it. The Yankees tried to have their cake and eat it too last July amid the whispers that Pittsburgh would trade Skenes despite the several years of control they held over him.

They quickly found out that consistency isn't Jones' strong suit. The hope this spring is that he can finally shake that trend. The 2022 first-rounder put in extra work this winter, but when camp opened up, he looked like a deer in the headlights. That is, until he didn't.

Jones smoked a second-inning homer in his first 2026 spring training game against the Detroit Tigers, taking Keider Montero deep to right with a moonshot that may or may not have landed yet.

And that's the rub. Jones can look like Bambi one day, and a left-handed Aaron Judge the next. As for the Yankees, they need to get a grip on their prospect valuations.

This offseason, they passed on Edward Cabrera and Freddy Peralta. They checked in on Tarik Skubal, the only other human who can call Skenes a peer, and were strong-armed by the Detroit Tigers, coming away with the impression that a deal for the game's best lefty would cost half their team.

This isn't the first time they've overvalued their own prospects, and it certainly won't be the last. Hopefully, they come to their senses and are willing to have reasonable discussions before guys like Jones see their value turn to dust.

His path to the bigs in 2026 is already murky with a full outfield and Jasson Dominguez likely ahead of him in the pecking order as both head to Scranton. The longer the Yankees hold on, the more likely it is that he becomes the left-handed Shelly Duncan as opposed to the lefty version of Judge.