New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone let it be known earlier in August that there were going to be some dramatic changes to their roster as the struggling team closes up shop on what will be a lost season.
As New York prepares for September, we’re seeing more evidence of this. According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Yankees have called out outfielder Jasson Dominguez and catcher Austin Wells.
Earlier in the month, the Yankees called up two other top prospects in that of infielder Oswald Peraza and outfielder Everson Pereira. These two latest moves come one day after former American League MVP Josh Donaldson was released with outfielder Harrison Bader being waived.
As for the two-most recent moves, MLB.com has Dominguez as the Yankees’ second-ranked prospect. The 20-year-old Dominican Republic native was raking at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at the time of the call (.444 average, 1.124 OPS with 10 RBI in eight games). He’s seen as a five-tool player with power and speed.
A first-round pick of the New York Yankees out of Arizona in the 2020 MLB Draft, Wells was considered their seventh-ranked prospect leading up to the 2023 season. The backstop was hitting .243 with 17 home runs, 72 RBI and a .782 OPS in three minor league stops before getting the call.
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What the most-recent New York Yankees moves mean
New York entered Wednesday’s action against the Detroit Tigers with a 64-68 record and in last place in the American League East. The team is 11 games out of the final wild card spot, pretty much meaning it is playing out the string.
Rather than suiting up the likes of Donaldson and Bader moving forward, it makes sense to get a look at these young players. Jasson Dominguez will likely get a lot of play in left field and center field over the final month-plus of the season. As for Wells, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he was New York’s everyday catcher from here on out.