New York Yankees top prospects 2025: Jasson Domínguez leads list once again with two young shortstops waiting

January’s arrival can mean only one thing around these parts: it’s time to rank minor-league prospects. Every team across the majors is selling hope to their fans: some are selling it in a more immediate fashion, in the form of active offseasons full of free-agent signings and trade acquisitions. Others, meanwhile, are selling it in the personage of prospects who could make the difference over the coming years.

CBS Sports will spend the next month examining the top three prospects in each organization. Our definition of “prospect” is simple: does that player have rookie eligibility remaining for the 2025 season? If so, they’re a prospect; if not, that’s probably why your favorite young player is absent from the proceedings. 

As always, these lists are formed following conversations with scouts, analysts, player development specialists, and other talent evaluators around the industry. There’s a fair amount of firsthand evaluation, statistical analysis, and historical research mixed in, too. Plus a heaping of personal bias — we all have certain traits and profiles that we prefer over others; there’s no sense pretending otherwise.

Keep in mind that there’s no one right answer with these sorts of things. Besides, these are merely our opinions, meaning they have no actual bearing on the future. We already published our ranking of the top 25 prospects in all of the minors.

With all that out of the way, let’s get to ranking the top three prospects in the New York Yankees system. 

1. Jasson Domínguez, OF

Top 25 ranking: No. 21

The short hook: Physical middle-of-the-rotation prospect

Domínguez is, without rival, the most famous person on this list. He’s been nationally relevant since first signing with the Yankees as a 16-year-old and, as a reward, receiving the burden of unreasonable comparisons. The ensuing years have lowered the volume on the hype machine, but that doesn’t mean he’s a bust. Rather, Domínguez projects as a starting-caliber outfielder who can provide power and speed — particularly when there’s a right-handed pitcher on the bump. Though he switch-hits, he’s always performed better from the left side; it’s where he has a finer command of the strike zone and the barrel alike. Domínguez’s plate discipline and explosiveness should enable him to record his first full big-league season in 2025. MLB ETA: Already debuted

The short hook: Promising shortstop prospect

Lombard, New York’s first-round pick in 2023, is a well-rounded infield prospect who has the requisite athletic traits to stick at shortstop for the long haul. There’s potential at the plate, too. He has a mature approach beyond his years (he’ll turn 20 in June), and he’s already shown he can regularly make hard line-drive contact. On the negative side, Lombard doesn’t yet feature much over-the-wall power, homering all of fives times in 123 professional games. He’s prone to whiffing within the zone, too, which could cause his bat to play below projections. In an ideal world, Lombard features all average or better tools at maturation, giving him a real chance to carve out a career as a starting middle infielder. MLB ETA: Summer 2027 

The short hook: Switch-hitting middle infielder with pop

Arias, who received a $4 million signing bonus as an amateur, experienced his first taste of professional baseball outside of the complex league last season. He spent the year in Tampa, where he split defensive responsibilities with the aforementioned Lombard during their shared time there. We consider Arias to be the inferior prospect right now because he’s a little older (he turned 20 in September) and a lot riskier. He’s more prone to chasing and whiffing, with that combination resulting in some laughable swing-and-miss rates on breaking balls. Arias was also a switch-hitter in name only, with all of his home runs and most of his damage coming as a lefty. He does have more present-day over-the-fence capability than Lombard, but he’ll need to improve his bat-to-ball skills to continue to make the most of it. MLB ETA: Summer 2028