Why did Yankees keep Domínguez in the Minors?

This story was excerpted from Bryan Hoch’s Yankees Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

NEW YORK -- Jasson Domínguez shrugged, offering a wan smile. The Yankees’ top prospect stood in the visiting clubhouse of Bowman Field in Williamsport, Pa., last month, crossing yet another Minor League park on his travelogue as he made a one-day cameo as a big leaguer for the Little League Classic.

What, Domínguez was asked, did he think of general manager Brian Cashman’s recent comments about there being “no lane” for Domínguez to stick in the Majors?

“I don’t have any thoughts about that, really, because that’s a thing that I can’t control,” Domínguez said. “So it is what it is. I just focus on playing and doing my job. That part is not my job.”

At the time, it seemed a lock that The Martian’s return could be marked on the calendar, with rosters expanding from 26 to 28 players on Sept. 1. Yet that date passed with Domínguez remaining in the Minors, as the 21-year-old was not included among the Bombers’ flurry of roster moves on Sunday.

A roster spot that could have been used to promote the switch-hitting Domínguez was instead filled by Duke Ellis, a speedy outfielder claimed off waivers from the Mariners on Aug. 27.

“He will remain in the conversation moving forward,” manager Aaron Boone said of Domínguez. “When he comes up here, we’re going to want to play him every day, so he’ll continue to remain in the conversation.”

As Boone indicated, Domínguez can still be promoted at any time this month -- because he is on the 40-man roster, he can help the club in their efforts to secure a playoff spot and would be eligible to participate in the postseason.

But as Boone and Cashman have both said, they do not intend to bring up Domínguez unless he can play regularly, hence Cashman’s comment about there being “no lane.” As Cashman told MLB Network Radio last month, “It’s nice to know he’s there. He’s just knocking rust off and waiting for his opportunity if it comes.”

More pointedly, they are not prepared to offer Domínguez at-bats if it means sitting left fielder Alex Verdugo, though that call deserves examination.

Verdugo had two hits in Sunday’s 14-7 loss to the Cardinals and is 11-for-30 with two extra-base hits in his last eight games. Since June 15, however, Verdugo has batted just .202 (49-for-243) with a .547 OPS. Boone said that Verdugo is “capable” offensively and that he believes the outfielder has “been a little unlucky this year” at the plate.

“You scratch underneath and it is in line with what he’s done most of his career, as far as contact quality,” Boone said. “He can really defend in left. If he can get it going, talking about [adding] length to the lineup, he certainly can provide that.”

Another piece of the behind-the-scenes calculus could involve Domínguez’s rookie status. Domínguez will retain that status for 2025, provided he does not exceed 130 career at-bats (he has 35 right now). Keeping him a rookie in '25 may permit the Yankees to net a Draft pick after the first round in '26 if Domínguez wins the 2025 AL Rookie of the Year Award.

That’s a lot of ifs, and as Paul O’Neill noted on Sunday’s YES Network broadcast, there is no guarantee that Domínguez will return and rake -- as he did in an all-too-brief taste of The Show last season, including a homer off the Astros’ Justin Verlander on his first big league swing, before requiring season-ending surgery to repair a torn right ulnar collateral ligament.

Though Domínguez has hit .307/.367/.490 with nine homers and 28 RBIs in 52 Minor League games this season while rebounding from an oblique strain that cost him more than a month, the Little League Classic didn’t go well.

Batting fifth against the Tigers, Domínguez went hitless, though Boone said that was likely due to the “tough draw” of going up against AL Cy Young Award contender Tarik Skubal. On defense, Domínguez also double-clutched on the game’s final play as the Yanks were walked off.

No matter. The Yankees’ 28-man roster would be better with Domínguez, and accordingly, so would their chances of winning championship No. 28.

“It was a tough call right now,” Boone said. “But that doesn’t mean that doesn’t change in a couple days, a week, two weeks, whatever it is. But it’s important for him to continue to play right now.”