Brian Cashman's comments on Jasson Dominguez are only going to hold Yankees back

Before Jasson Dominguez suffered an injury in mid-June, he was tearing it up at Triple-A Scranton for the New York Yankees. Many believed he didn't need much more time there and that the team could upgrade from a bench that featured DJ LeMahieu/Oswaldo Cabrera, Jahmai Jones and eventually JD Davis.

Instead, manager Aaron Boone assured fans that there was no lane for consistent playing time for Dominguez if he were to be called up. And to that we'd say, "Bullsh-t." There's always a lane for playing time, especially when you have that bench, in addition to injuries at every turn.

Dominguez might not have been afforded everyday reps, but 3-4 games a week felt like a reality. Instead, the Yankees refused to get creative. They kept that terrible bench intact and endured an 11-24 stretch that would've been the worst in MLB had the White Sox not existed.

Now that the Yankees are "back," having won three impressive series in a row, they could go into juggernaut mode by promoting Dominguez and, let's say, booting Carlos Narvaez while making Ben Rice the backup catcher. But don't count on that because Brian Cashman already has his mind made up.

“Just let him play out and he could be a part of our major-league roster or he could be an option at Triple-A. Simple as that,” Cashman told the media last week. “He’s a legitimate force when he’s healthy and all the rust is knocked off. It’s exciting to know that’s an opportunity that’s there. I have no idea past that. We like what we have currently, and it’d be nice to know that that’s sitting there if we need it.”

Brian Cashman clearly waiting to promote Yankees' Jasson Dominguez

A few problems with what Cashman told the media last week. The first is that Dominguez is not an option at Triple-A. He's too good for that level. He's wasting his time playing against lesser competition.

Secondly, he doesn't need to knock off any rust, as he's proven twice now. He returned from the IL the first time around to absolutely rake, and has been off to a good enough start after his most recent return from an oblique injury. He's not hitting a home run every at-bat, but he already proved he can handle MLB action last season, so any sort of offensive showing at Triple-A following another long layoff should be enough (he's 5-for-27 but has four RBI, three runs scored and two walks from 7/26-8/4).

And lastly, the Yankees shouldn't be in love with "what they currently have." Again, Narvaez is on this roster. The Yankees made no offensive upgrades at the trade deadline with the exception of Jazz Chisholm. Alex Verdugo is back to slumping and dogging it. It's only a matter of time before Gleyber Torres and DJ LeMahieu go cold again. Aaron Judge will need days off his feet. Giancarlo Stanton will need some sort of load management. There will be ways to get Dominguez into the lineup consistently. Rice and Anthony Volpe have been better, but they've provided long stretches of unacceptable output.

The Yankees cannot take chances in the second half. Though they've largely been good since right before the All-Star break, this isn't a team that can pass on an obvious upgrade. Dominguez woke up this dead roster last September. He clearly has the chops to play in the bigs. And he'd be even better this time around with the various lineup improvements.

"We like what we have right now" isn't a response for this season, unless the trade deadline featured blockbuster acquisitions. And it didn't. So it's time to use what you have at your disposal between now and October.