Yankees' postgame roster shuffle hints at intriguing September call-ups

Adam Weinrib

New York Yankees Photo Day / New York Yankees/GettyImages

With September call-ups looming on Sunday afternoon ahead of the Yankees' rubber game against the St. Louis Cardinals, everyone's worst fear was that New York would use their extra two roster spaces on two returning injured players and call it a day.

And, while we still can't know for certain whether the Yankees have found a "lane" for Martian Jasson Dominguez to receive playing time, it seems likely he'll hear his name called Sunday after Saturday's penultimate roster shuffle before the big day.

While Aaron Boone let slip in Saturday's postgame that Anthony Rizzo would be returning for Sunday's finale, the Yankees proved they're willing to go a step further by demoting both Ben Rice and Saturday starter Will Warren after the game concluded.

That means: A) Rizzo won't be coming up via an expanded roster spot, and B) Warren won't be making his regularly scheduled start in five days, because he can't return to the bigs without an injury during this short a window. This likely means four players will be joining New York's roster on Sunday.

Following today’s game, the Yankees optioned C/INF Ben Rice and RHP Will Warren to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 31, 2024

Yankees demote Ben Rice, Will Warren, clear path for Anthony Rizzo and Jasson Dominguez

Rice starred in a three-homer game against the Red Sox earlier in July, but he struggled to translate his hitter-ish characteristics into production (without the luxury of consistent playing time). He was poised to lose reps to Rizzo as soon as the veteran was healthy (as if it was even possible for him to lose more reps), but this cements that the Yankees have more going on.

Now that Rizzo's ascent has been proven to require a corresponding move, Dominguez can join the roster freely on Sunday afternoon. The Yankees can now also promote a pair of pitchers rather than just one. Will they activate one of Cody Poteet and Clarke Schmidt to make Warren's next start? What about Luis Gil? Scott Effross will probably come up on Sunday but, again, things just got more complex after the Yankees cut bait on Warren, who spent his big-league time this season creating only the worst kind of history.

Stay tuned for Sunday.

Adam Weinrib

Adam Weinrib is a Content Director on the FanSided network, and has been the co-editor at Yanks Go Yard for 6 years. He also co-hosts The Baseball Insiders Podcast thrice weekly, alongside FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray, as well as the Yanks Go Yard Podcast. Previously, he was a Senior Editor at 12up.com, and has been covering MLB and NFL for 10 years. He was also a headline and features contributor at ClickHole and Onion Sports, as well as the Associate Producer of the ESPN 30 for 30 film "Believeland". An avowed fan of the New York sports teams -- specifically the Yankees -- as well as the North Carolina Tar Heels, you can find Adam complaining mid-game on Twitter, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn if the game goes really poorly.