Yankees' George Lombard Jr. promotion after trade deadline was a snake-in-the-grass move

Only the New York Yankees can somehow spoil the promotion of the organization's top prospect (and one of the most talented young players we've seen come through the system). That's exactly what they did late on Monday night after an embarrassing loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

In one fell swoop, the Yankees promoted No. 1 prospect George Lombard Jr. and demoted Anthony Volpe, Jasson Dominguez and Angel Chivilli. If this was always part of the plan, then why didn't you trade any of them? If they're not good enough to be on the roster right now, then they aren't good enough to be depth options. It's as simple as that.

But after acquiring more depth in Luis García Jr. and Heliot Ramos, all the while addressing zero needs on the current roster, the Yankees needed a get-out-of-jail free card of sorts. And instead of waiting for a better moment to promote Lombard Jr. that would actually reinvigorate the fanbase, they did it at 11:18 p.m. as everybody was getting ready for bed after a horrific bullpen meltdown.

This was always the plan. The Yankees knew they weren't going to have an aggressive trade deadline. They never do. And every fan who thought they would was blinded by unfounded hope. Cashman has two "aggressive" deadline to his name over the last 10 years. One was in 2017 that fueled an ALCS run. The other was in 2021 that featured the worst playoff Yankees team we've seen in the modern era. He's never come close to replicating what he did in 2017.

So in order to mask the lack of intent at the deadline — all the while blaming "what the market had to offer" and "what other teams were asking for" — Cashman and the Yankees thought it would be a genius brain idea to take a sledge hammer to the roster in the next most underwhelming way.

Yankees take sledge hammer to MLB roster instead of trying at the trade deadline

Volpe and Dominguez have been bad for months. Now's the time to demote them? Sure. Chivilli was emerging as a real bullpen option, which convinced the Yankees they didn't need to acquire a reliever at the deadline. Monday night was the time to let him implode for six earned runs on five hits (three homers) and then declare him useless?

Lombard Jr. should have been promoted under more hopeful circumstances. Whether it was doing it leading up to the deadline or waiting a week or two after, that would have actually inspired some confidence among the fanbase.

Instead, the Yankees attempted to use it as a guise for them to say, "See! We are actually trying! We are doing the thing people have been asking for. Don't tell us we aren't trying to win or don't have a championship mentality."

Good luck to Lombard Jr. He will be tasked with the impossible. The Yankees have once again put one of their top prospects in a terrible position, calling them up when morale is at an all-time low to join an incomplete roster while everything is slowly crumbing around them. He'll deserve a Purple Heart if he's able to succeed in spite of all that.

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