REALITY CHECK: THE YANKEES WANT TO SELL WHAT NO TEAM WANTS TO BUY

Sometimes you just need to accept a hard dose of reality. In this case, it is the Yankees getting some bad news. If former top 100 baseball prospect Spencer Jones were having a dominant season in Double-A. he would be playing for another organization right now. And yes, you heard that first part right, but more on that later.

Full transparency, I realize I haven't been Jones' biggest cheerleader. I have written about him a lot and not with high praise. I hold no ill will toward the kid, but I know a lot of people are high on him and his "five tool talent" including many of our readers here at Bleeding Yankee Blue, but I feel differently....and I am not alone. 

Now that the trade deadline is behind us, we are hearing more about what the Yankees tried to accomplish, but failed to do. Brian Cashman TRIED to get a deal done for a starting pitcher centered around prized prospect Jones, but they had little interest read more HERE. "The Yankees were willing to include prized outfield prospect Spencer Jones for pitching help at the deadline, several teams said, but balked because of Jones’ struggles this year," said Bob Nightengale.

I don't usually like to use Nightengale as a source these days but, I believe other teams have reservations on Jones. I know I have all season. He's got great promise. I love that he has nice raw power with 14 home runs and 21 stolen bases.... but he's got a high strikeout rate that I just can't ignore. He needs to improve on that plate discipline.

I always say to give credit where credit is due, and I give credit to the work Jones has been putting in lately. In the last month, he has been hitting better and has a .271 BA however, he has struck out in 40 of his last 96 plate appearances so that still needs work. It's baby steps.....but teams look at that and see a 23-year-old kid still in Double-A because he struggles against minor league pitching.

I get why teams the Yankees reached out to balked with Jones. I've been saying it all season and honestly, this is something I really want to be wrong on. MLB released an updated top 100 prospects rankings last week (read HERE) and Jones is no longer on it. I think it makes sense, but it also stings knowing a positive the Yankees were trying to use to sell teams on Jones, is no longer there. Now Jasson Dominguez is the only top 100 prospect the Yankees have.

I said this earlier, the Yankees try to overhype their prospects, and now other teams finally have a recent example. The Yankees sat on Jones with his opportunities for too long....and now he doesn't net the Yankees the value that they wanted. Another Brian Cashman failure.

Just another harsh side of the business. Can the Yankees continue to work on Jones and make him what they need him to be? Possibly. They have time with Dominguez getting MLB opportunities instead of Jones.... but if he doesn't improve on his weaknesses soon, Jones will run out of time quickly.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj