Yankees can't continue on with their lame Jasson Dominguez excuse much longer

Too much talent is never a bad thing, and good teams typically find a way to make it all work. And though the New York Yankees are quite literally the best team in all of baseball, it's never too late to get even better.

At the moment, Jasson Dominguez is embarrassing the competition in the minor leagues. He completed his rehab assignment and has remained at Triple-A as the Yankees hope to get him some more reps after a lost spring training due to his Tommy John surgery.

But it's becoming more and more evident that Dominguez doesn't need it. And it became painfully obvious over the weekend that the Yankees need to improve their depth/matchups/platoons after they floundered against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday and Saturday with Juan Soto out of the lineup.

Across 19 games so far in his minor league venture in 2024, Dominguez is hitting .380 with a 1.119 OPS, 15 runs scored, 6 homers and 12 RBI. After he shocked the league during his eight-game stint in 2023, it seems he's ready to get back to doing just that.

Simply put, the Yankees do not need to be playing Giancarlo Stanton, Gleyber Torres, Anthony Rizzo and DJ LeMahieu every day. Their bench of Trent Grisham and Jahmai Jones isn't exactly World Series-caliber. Why are the Yankees making excuses when asked about promoting Dominguez?

Yankees can't continue on with their lame Jasson Dominguez excuse much longer

Here's the latest from Yankees insider Bryan Hoch from his mailbag:

"Now here’s the wrinkle: With Juan Soto expected to return to the lineup this week in Kansas City, the Yankees still plan to pump the brakes and keep their top prospect in the Minors. Why? They do not see a path for Domínguez to get regular playing time, at least not if Soto, Aaron Judge, Alex Verdugo and Giancarlo Stanton are all healthy and active."

First of all, with that logic, Dominguez won't get promoted unless there's an injury? Soto, Judge, Verdugo and Stanton aren't going anywhere this year. The Yankees' plan simply cannot be "wait until somebody gets injured and then promote Dominguez."

Secondly, manager Aaron Boone can afford to get more flexible with the lineup. Monday's "punt" lineup was the perfect example of that. Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton all got days off and Grisham, Jones and Oswaldo Cabrera were starting. You mean to tell us there isn't a world in which Dominguez fits into the puzzle on a consistent basis?

We've come to learn we do not need to see Rizzo, Torres or Stanton on an everyday basis. Rizzo and DJ LeMahieu, at this point, should be a platoon at first base. Same with Cabrera and LeMahieu at third base. Stanton (somehow) can't hit left-handed pitching this year and has become a reverse-split player. Dominguez can switch hit. He can play center field and give Judge days off his feet here and there.

All we're saying is that there's a way to make this work without something catastrophic occurring, and not being able to get Dominguez everday reps shouldn't be an excuse. He's more valuable playing 3-4 games per week in MLB than playing 6-7 against lesser competition in the minor leagues.