The Yankees Sticking With Alex Verdugo Over Top Prospect Jasson Dominguez Shows They Are Completely Delusional

As I type this blog the Yankees cling to first place in the AL East, with a half game lead (one in the loss column) over the Baltimore Orioles. At 80-58 they've positioned themselves to make a deep run into October with how wide open the league appears to be. 

With the returns of Jazz Chisholm and Anthony Rizzo from the IL, the daily lineup has started to look legit just recently. It's the best chance they've had offensively since 2019. 

That lineup has the chance to fully optimize with one simple phone call to promote Jasson Dominguez. When September rolled around over the weekend and rosters expanded, many assumed we'd see the Martian's arrival given that he's healthy once again and mashing in the minors. Instead this was the news we got. 

Now no offense to Duke Ellis, but what the fuck is a Duke Ellis? That'd be the biggest slap in the face the organization could conjure up.

While the fanbase became enraged with the decision, some dug into the rules to see if there was a benefit the Yankees could gain from delaying the arrival of Dominguez. The Martian has already been down in the minors long enough this year to secure another year of eligibility when it comes to his free agent status. There's a new rule in the CBA that awards a first round draft pick to teams if their player wins rookie of the year. In order to maintain that status, it was suspected Dominguez would have to receive less than 95 at bats for the rest of the year. Brutal prospect manipulation, but it's part of the game. Well, apparently that's not even the case because of his time on the IL. 

(The Athletic) After some confusion over whether Domínguez would be eligible for a Prospect Promotion Incentive (PPI) draft pick if he were to win Rookie of the Year in 2025, it turns out he would not qualify because he has already amassed over 60 days of MLB service time. Domínguez earned 31 days of service in 2023 and started 2024 on the MLB injured list as he recovered from Tommy John surgery. The Yankees did not take Domínguez off the MLB injured list until June, which means he was earning service during that time.

With that logic in play, it would then lead you to believe the Yankees actually believe Alex Verdugo helps the team win more than Jasson Dominguez does right now. Asinine. 

Andy Martino, a noted Cashman shill, wrote this today trying to actually reason with the decision to play Verdugo over Dominguez. 

(SNY) No, the decision that provoked outrage in the fan base over the weekend came down to this simple principle: Once the Yankees make the move that so many fans seem to want, they won’t be able to undo it. Because of this, they know that they had better be extremely confident that Dominguez will immediately be more impactful than Verdugo. It’s basic human psychology and clubhouse management.

Picture this sequence of events:

-- The Yankees recall Dominguez from Triple-A Scranton today.

-- There is no way around the fact that this move indicates to Verdugo that the team no longer believes in him (the Yankees do not see a left field timeshare as viable; when they bring up a prospect like Dominguez, they know they need to play him just about every day).

-- Dominguez does not produce this week or next.

-- The team, having already rejected and diminished Verdugo, enters the postseason without a confident left fielder.

First of all, could you imaging worrying about Alex Verdugo's confidence? The left fielder is hitting .235/.293/.360 with an 83 OPS+. He's a below average player and has been that way for months. We're talking about the team's nine hitter and Martino is suggesting there's significant risk in hurting his confidence? One of the more ridiculous things I've ever seen from a reporter. 

Keep in mind this is happening during Juan Soto's walk year. While you'd like to believe Soto is bound to return next year under a massive new contract, you have zero assurances that's happening. This is also a prime year for Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole. You only have so many of those remaining. You MUST maximize everything you can this season. That means calling up your top prospect in place of a below average player who is gone after this year anyways. The same prospect you've rightfully withheld from any and all trades. We all got a taste of Dominguez last September when he homered off Justin Verlander in his first ever MLB at bat. 

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We only got to see 33 plate appearances from him, but in that span he posted a .980 OPS with four homers. He's fully capable of being a consistent impact player at this level. This is a top tier prospect who can help this team right now and they're apparently leaning on a below average vet over him. It's a fucking joke. 

Boone said today, "ultimately, we want to win," expect there's no way in hell that's fully true if you're keeping Dominguez from the majors right now. 

Promote The Martian yesterday and go for this thing. Stop this nonsense right now.