Yankees have no choice but to ditch struggling veteran for Jasson Dominguez or Spencer Jones

When the New York Yankees signed Randal Grichuk, it was a foregone conclusion that he'd be on the club's Opening Day roster. After the way spring training played out, it wasn't a popular decision, given the hot showings put forth by youngsters Jasson Dominguez and Spencer Jones, but it was the right call.

The logic was threefold. One, Dominguez and Jones had options while Grichuk did not. Two, the Yankees needed a right-handed bat to balance out their lefty-heavy lineup, and neither Jones (a lefty) nor Dominguez (might as well be a lefty) satisfied that requirement. Three, the younger players would benefit from playing every day, something they wouldn't be able to do in the Bronx.

Just because Grichuk made the team out of camp didn't mean the 34-year-old would last the entire season. It's only been eight games and 12 plate appearances for the veteran outfielder, but he's gone hitless and failed to draw a walk while striking out six times, proving that it's already time to pull the ripcord. There's no need for this. He has no upside.

The idea was he'd mash lefties, but with a .703 OPS against southpaws last season, the ship may have already sailed on that aspect of his game truly benefiting a club. Meanwhile, Dominguez in particular has kept up his hot hitting down in Scranton, and even Jones might be a better option at this point.

Yankees ditching Randal Grichuk for Jasson Dominguez or Spencer Jones will save Aaron Boone from himself

Dominguez is slashing .341/.473/.523 overall in Triple-A, adding two homers and seven steals. His sample batting right-handed is just six plate appearances, but the results have been stellar, slashing .400/.500/1.200 with a dinger. The defense, well, that's still a work in progress, but it's not like he'd be stepping in for a Gold Glover.

Jones is a bit of a tougher sell. He started out the year with a whiff-filled performance that drew a lot of concerns, though he's heated up a bit recently and pulled his numbers up to a more respectable .235/.344/.471 line, though the strikeout rate is sitting at 39.3%.

It might be time to accept that Jones is who he is, and that seems to be a player capable of incredible hot streaks and truly frigid cold spells, but at this point, that's still better than a guy who can't hit.

There are some other added benefits to Jones and Dominguez. Either one, Dominguez in particular, would add additional speed to the Yankees' bench, while Jones would give New York an alternate option in center aside from Cody Bellinger when Trent Grisham needs a day off.

The biggest boost might be taking away Grichuk from Aaron Boone. The skipper made a couple of baffling pinch-hit decisions involving Grichuk over the weekend against the Tampa Bay Rays.

On Friday, with New York needing to mount a comeback against Rays closer Bryan Baker (a right-hander), Boone let Grichuk hit rather than go to Grisham off the bench, saying, "I like the righties against Baker."

Then on Saturday, in a tie game in the ninth with two outs and the go-ahead run on third, Boone let Grichuk hit again in another right-on-right matchup against Hunter Bigge. Bigge has been better against lefties than righties throughout his career, so while going with a right-handed bat made sense, Grichuk was an odd choice.

Boone had Paul Goldschmidt on the bench, and the former NL MVP is not only more accomplished than Grichuk, but he's actually hit a bit this season. Boone stuck with Grichuk, however, and responded to a question as to why he didn't go to Goldschmidt by saying, “Fair. Definitely could have, should have, whatever.”

Boone's confidence in Grichuk is strange, given he has a much more robust history with the two players who should've pinch-hit for the struggling veteran, and it's reached the point that he needs to be taken away from Boone before he makes another decision that compromises the club's chances to win. That means either Dominguez or Jones needs to take the mantle, and sooner rather than later.