Alex Verdugo does little to prove Brian Cashman, Aaron Boone right with boneheaded base-running

The New York Yankees have been a below-average baseball team for months now, which is frustrating enough for their fan base, but the personnel decisions made by Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone have frustrated the fans to no end.

Forget the fact that Cashman did very little to address the bullpen at this year's trade deadline. Forget the fact that Boone stuck with Clay Holmes as the team's undisputed closer for far too long. The decision to keep Jasson Dominguez, one of the top prospects in all of baseball, down in the minors just so they can play Alex Verdugo regularly is one that makes absolutely no sense.

For whatever reason, both Cashman and Boone seem to believe that Verdugo gives them the best chance to win. Yes, the guy with a negative fWAR since May 1 gives the Yankees a better chance to win than the red-hot top prospect who in his brief MLB time last season already showed a ton of promise.

As if seeing Verdugo's name in Saturday's lineup wasn't frustrating enough for Yankees fans, the veteran outfielder did little to relieve any stress for the fans by coming dangerously close to committing the worst base-running blunder of the season.

Alex Verdugo's boneheaded base-running, near-blunder, is the latest reason that he should be benched

With one out in the top of the fourth inning, Verdugo drew a walk giving New York a base runner. Getting runners on in front of the likes of Gleyber Torres, Juan Soto, and Aaron Judge is always a good thing, so props to Verdugo for getting on base even if three of the four pitches he saw weren't even remotely close to the plate. What happened with Verdugo on base is what nearly drove every Yankees fan to turn off their televisions.

Torres hit a routine flyball right to Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong. Rather than inch halfway between first and second base like a normal base runner does on a lazy fly ball, Verdugo chose to go right up to the second base bag, giving Crow-Armstrong a chance to double him off.

Clearly, Crow-Armstrong was very shocked that Verdugo had gone as close to the second base bag as he did, hesitating before firing a strike to first base. The play was so close to the point where Verdugo was ruled out on the field. Replay review did overturn the call, but Verdugo was nearly thrown out to end the inning. A play that should've never even happened nearly ended the inning.

It's hard to know what Verdugo was thinking here. It's not as if he was running on the pitch. Did he think Crow-Armstrong was going to lose the ball in the sun? Did he not know that Crow-Armstrong is one of the best defensive outfielders in the game with a throwing arm ranking in the 96th percentile according to Baseball Savant?

At least this time Verdugo actually hustled back to first - his effort has been an issue at times. Still, what are we doing here?

Since the start of May, Verdugo is slashing .228/.278/.337 with a total of seven home runs. He's been one of the worst hitters and players in the sport. It's mind-boggling already that he's receiving praise from guys like Cashman and Boone for his play, and situations like these only add fuel to the fire.

It'd be nice if the Yankees were serious, but in reality, Boone and Cashman will likely just praise Verdugo's hustle.