Aaron Boone weighs in on Yankees’ major left-field question

ORLANDO — There are still 3 ¹/₂ months before Aaron Boone has to write a left fielder on his lineup card for Opening Day against the Giants. 

There could be the familiar option in Cody Bellinger. There could be the familiar yet still unknown quantity that is Jasson Domínguez. There could be a real wild card in Spencer Jones. Or, perhaps, there is a right-handed bat out there that Brian Cashman will pull down to throw a twist into the Yankees’ current outfield plans. 

All of that represents one of the biggest questions the Yankees are trying to address at the winter meetings this week, and while there may not be a finite resolution by the time they wrap up Wednesday, Boone offered an outlook on each of the Yankees’ options to join Aaron Judge in right field and Trent Grisham in center field: 

Boone has not yet gotten involved in the recruiting process for Bellinger, which is not atypical for players the Yankees are trying to re-sign. But after seeing up close the impact Bellinger had on the Yankees in all aspects — at the plate, in the field (particularly with his defensive flexibility), on the bases and from a baseball IQ standpoint — the manager would certainly sign up to bring him back. 

“Obviously, what Cody brought to us last year in so many ways, just who he was in the room, his performance between the lines on both sides of the ball, his athleticism, his versatility, who wouldn’t want a player like that?” Boone said. “He’s earned the right now to get to this point of his career of free agency as still a relatively young man. So we’ll see what happens. We’ll see how it shakes out. As far as the player and the person, he’s a good one.” 

The problem for the Yankees is that the market for Bellinger is shaping up to be a strong one, not necessarily in quantity but in quality of the teams. His suitors are expected to include the Mets, Blue Jays, Phillies (if they cannot re-sign Kyle Schwarber) and perhaps even his original team, the Dodgers. There may be a limit of just how high the Yankees will go to retain Bellinger, especially if they are trying to keep their payroll in check.