Now there's a lane? Yankees plan for Jasson Dominguez totally antithetical to prior stance

The New York Yankees made a long-overdue roster change on Monday, calling up 21-year-old outfielder Jasson Dominguez from Triple-A Scranton. Dominguez, the Yankees No. 1 prospect, is expected to play "a lot," per manager Aaron Boone.

This change was a long time coming. Dominguez will presumably slot ahead of Alex Verdugo in left field as the Yankees gear up for the playoffs. Listed 16th overall on MLB Pipeline's prospect rankings, Dominguez has been one of the best hitters at the minor-league level this season. There is always uncertainty when promoting an untested rookie to the MLB, but Dominguez has all the tools to contribute at a high level from day one.

New York will certainly count on it with the Baltimore Orioles a mere half-game back in the AL East. Verdugo has actually been on a mild upswing of late, but this has been a rancid season overall for the 28-year-old, who arrived last winter via trade from the Boston Red Sox. Dominguez has far less big-league experience than Verdugo, but the bar to cross is low — a .235 average with a .651 OPS, to be precise.

In a corresponding move, the Yankees placed D.J. LaMahieu on the 10-day injured list with a hip injury. Boone told reporters that he is unsure when or if LaMahieu can return this season, which could keep this "lane" open for Dominguez moving forward.

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Yankees finally call up Jasson Dominguez after weeks of putting off the inevitable

Quite literally last month, Yankees GM Brian Cashman said there was "no lane" for Dominguez in the majors. The Yankees didn't want to call up Dominguez and put him on the bench. Instead, they kept their 21-year-old sledgehammer in the minors so that he could keep his bat warm. That is a fine strategy on the surface, but like, there was a lane. The same lane that New York is presently invoking.

These Verdugo struggles are not new. If anything, they were worse when Cashman made that comment. Boone has been a staunch advocate for Verdugo in recent weeks, but it would appear that New York has reached its breaking point. It's almost as if the LaMahieu injury, unfortunate as it is, is just an excuse for New York to bite the bullet and execute the obvious, long overdue call up. If New York had called up a nobody instead, the fandom would have made its displeasure well known.

Verdugo has dealt with injuries of his own this season, with Boone recently citing his various bumps and bruises as a reason for his inefficacy at the plate. Well, now Verdugo gets a chance to sit back and reset. Dominguez is going to quickly win the everyday left field role if he performs up to the standards he set with Scranton. If Dominguez can't build up a rhythm before the playoffs, well, New York can pivot back to Verdugo in a few weeks. Maybe then he will be rested, recuperated, and more potent at the plate by then.

New York has been insistent that their strange handling of Dominguez's roster status is not service time manipulation, though, so we have to believe that New York wants this to work out. Dominguez has the talent to occupy left field next to Aaron Judge and Juan Soto for the next decade. In a perfect world, the Yankees won't need to adjust the top of their outfield depth chart for a while. Baseball hardly ever occupies such a "perfect world," of course, but Dominguez could be the additional power bat that pushes New York over the top in a competitive American League.

Only time will tell, but this is an exciting and long-awaited moment for Yankees fans.