The Surprising reason why the New York Yankees didn’t call up Jasson Dominguez
Dominguez’s continued minor-league status complicates the Yankees’ choice.
The New York Yankees could use Jasson Dominguez right now.
Despite losing their previous three series and falling out of first place in the AL East, the Bronx Bombers have yet to call up their prized outfield prospect, who has recently been tearing the cover off the ball for the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. In four September games, the 21-year-old is hitting.375/.474/.750, with two home runs and six RBIs.
What makes the Yankees’ decision to not promote Dominguez even more perplexing is who they assigned his at-bats to.
According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, Yankees manager Aaron Boone and general manager Brian Cashman are “keeping their faith” in left fielder Alex Verdugo, who could conceivably be replaced by Dominguez if New York’s top prospect is promoted to the majors.
“Cashman and Boone aren’t big fans of Dominguez. Heyman wrote, “They are.” “The issue is that Cashman and Boone appear to have an unusually high level of trust in Verdugo. Boone campaigned for Verdugo for over a year before trading him for reliever Greg Weissert and two minor leaguers.
Heyman also alleged that numerous executives pushed for Dominguez’s elevation, only to be rebuffed by Cashman and Boone.
“Boone mentioned a pre-September ‘conversation’ among Yankees higher-ups about whether to promote Dominguez,” according to Heyman. “Insiders say it was a very spirited dialogue, with multiple executives strongly arguing for promotion, obviously unsuccessfully.”
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Even more frustrating is Verdugo’s lack of hustle; he has frequently jogged up the first base line after hitting routine groud balls, effectively giving up on these plays. After another instance occurred in New York’s loss to the Texas Rangers on Wednesday, Boone said that the lack of hustle is a result of him being “beat up”. If anything, if Verdugo is dealing with bumps and bruises, this gives the Yankees the perfect opportunity to replace him with Dominguez; it would allow the veteran to get some much-needed rest, while the youngster would get the experience and development needed at the major league level.
Verdugo will be a free agent after the season, and Dominguez is expected to be available for the 2024 postseason without exceeding his rookie status (Dominguez is eligible due to being on the 40-man roster. With the Yankees looking to win their first World Series in 15 years, they need to have the best team possible on the field, and that starts with bringing up their top prospect.
