New York Yankees Joel Sherman The Spencer Jones ‘tolerance’ question Yankees need to answer when determining his future By Joel Sherman Published March 14, 2026, 7:45 p.m. ET Spencer Jones is pictured during the Yankees' spring training game Feb. 26. Charles Wenzelberg TAMPA — What if you had a player fall into the Venn diagram of Giancarlo Stanton’s power, Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s speed and Ryan McMahon’s defensive ability?
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Spencer Jones is challenged to reach that heady amalgamation because Major League Baseball is ridiculously hard and he already is approaching his 25th birthday in May with zero MLB at-bats and no clear idea when he will get No. 1.
But it is a reminder of what is tempting about Jones — perpetual prospect and trade candidate, because those three players not only provide hints at his skill set, but also accentuate that if you have above-average major league tools in certain areas, there will be a tolerance for uncomfortable strikeout rates.
Which gets us to a question I asked executives around the sport — at what strikeout rate is Jones a tolerable player if he brings the other skills … and at what is he not? Can you live with him at Chisholm’s 27.9 percent? McMahon’s 33.5? Stanton’s 34.2?
