Yankees make worst possible September call-ups, infuriate Jasson Dominguez fans

On September 1, ahead of 26 games against increasingly difficult opponents, the Yankees had a chance to turn their season back around after a 14-12 record in August. They wandered aimlessly through series against the historically lowly White Sox (pummeled in the opener), bottom-tier Angels (lost the set at home), and upstart Nationals (won the opener, fell flat for two straight), but it was all going to be worth it. On September 1, they were going to flip a switch and improve their lineup significantly. The turnaround was still possible.

Then, on September 1, in an all-in year, the Yankees proved that they do not care about logic and reason, calling up recently signed pinch-runner Duke Ellis and leaving Jasson Dominguez, on the heater of all heaters, at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Who made the call? Aaron Judge, who can't seem to interrupt his loyalty to Alex Verdugo, one of MLB's worst qualified hitters, for a single second? Brian Cashman, who can't find a "lane" for a mega-star rookie, because that would make his offseason look disastrous yet again? Will the Yankees promote Dominguez in 10 days after getting a look at whether Ellis, who seems like a wasted postseason roster spot in the modern era, is worth their time?

Regardless, the likelihood of the Yankees being a capable playoff team just decreased in real time the moment this tweet was sent out. Air out of the balloon. Bfffffffft.

Yankees promote pinch runner Duke Ellis over Jasson Dominguez in all-time gaffe

Not even the Yankees -- not even these Yankees -- could be this thick-headed. Surely, the worst thing they were going to do this September was promote Dominguez and not play him enough, right? They couldn't possibly be obtuse enough to keep down a superhuman outfielder who's hitting .313 with an .870 OPS in the minors this season, especially not with a clear outfield need. They brought him up last September and he shined, didn't they? They brought him up when they needed him for a one-game cameo against Cy Young favorite Tarik Skubal in the Little League Classic, didn't they?

This can be the day you'd stop watching, if you'd like. It's fair to feel like hope was unfairly stripped away from you today, in Juan Soto's only guaranteed year in Pinstripes.