Yankees' tiny trade with Blue Jays could be prepping for Jasson Dominguez promotion

Just a few days after the Yankees demoted experienced outfielder Greg Allen all the way down to Double-A, they've decided they require more depth at the position in Triple-A Scranton. Go figure.

Blocked for a big-league opportunity for years now, the Yankees finally dealt away Brandon Lockridge to San Diego in exchange for Enyel De Los Santos last week. That was a kind gesture to Lockridge and earned the Yankees a high-velocity (but not necessarily a high-leverage) bullpen arm. It also left the Triple-A outfield remarkably thin -- and it got even thinner when Allen was activated and bumped down.

Promotions are doubtlessly in order in the coming weeks, but for now, the Yankees have swung a small trade with the Toronto Blue Jays in order to add bodies to the outfield.

Cam Eden, a 2019 sixth-rounder who's hit .198 with a .621 OPS this season, will be switching sides to Scranton and reporting in the coming days. It does make you wonder, though, why the Yankees require low-upside bodies at Triple-A in the weeks to come rather than promoting someone (like Somerset's Elijah Dunham) who's long been in the system.

Maybe the team is waiting until they plan to promote Jasson Dominguez and regular playing time opens up to make a forward-thinking move?

Yankees acquire Blue Jays outfielder Cam Eden; Jasson Dominguez on the way?

Right now, the Yankees' outfield at Triple-A is dangerously thin, with Everson Pereira on the shelf for the season and Oscar Gonzalez on the seven-day IL. That's left Eden, Dominguez, Taylor Trammell, and the recently demoted Jahmai Jones in the outfield picture. The current depth chart makes the Allen move even more suspect, but maybe they believe in Allen (and Dunham), and plan to use a body like Eden in the fourth outfielder role in perpetuity, swapping in a more promising prospect for Dominguez when the time comes?

Still, it's puzzling. If the Yankees' plan was to ease Dominguez back into action, alternating DH chances and rest days with outfield work, why does Triple-A Scranton only have four outfielders rostered? And why is one of them Jones, who the Yankees luckily watched clear waivers last week? Otherwise, they'd be even more Dominguez-reliant. Maybe ... just maybe ... they want to bring Dominguez up sooner rather than later and no longer care about juggling rest in the minors, understanding that they can do so at the big-league level more easily, where a rotating cast of extra options exists. Things are far more bare bones in the minors, currently.

Judging by their current depth chart below the surface, Dominguez's ultimate replacement is still probably lurking at the Double-A level. At the very least, though, it's comforting to see the Yankees continuing to add depth with a promotion hopefully on the horizon. Eden's low ceiling hints that the franchise is fine with any body occupying space for the time being.