<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=06ORde_0vTpd9at00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=06ORde_0vTpd9at00" width="1280" height="821" ><figcaption>Alex Verdugo started two of the Yankees' first three games after Jasson Dominguez was called up on Monday, but the left fielder's playing time is expected to be cut a lot in the final two-plus weeks of the regular season. AP</figcaption></figure>This was an item in our free twice-weekly newsletter, “Restoring the Glory,” sent to subscribers on Thursday morning. You can receive it on Mondays and Thursdays days <a href="https://link.nj.com/join/6fj/signup">by subscribing here</a>.###NEW YORK — There were two occasions this season when I was in the middle of a conversation in the <a href="https://www.nj.com/yankees/">Yankees</a> clubhouse with <a href="https://www.nj.com/yankees/2024/08/yankees-alex-verdugos-hitting-struggles-are-a-mystery-that-maybe-only-doctors-can-solve.html">Alex Verdugo</a> before a game and we were interrupted by bench coach Brad Ausmus.Both times, Ausmus walked up to us, made a motion with his thumb, pointing to the clubhouse door, and said to Verdugo sternly, “Let’s go!”He was late for a hitters’ meeting in a back room.On other occasions, colleague Bob Klapisch witnessed the same thing, and at one point he brought it up in a private conversation with the manager.“It’s not a problem,” Aaron Boone said.Boone said the same thing last week when Verdugo jogged to first base on two groundouts during a 10-6 loss to the Rangers in Arlington, Texas. It was so blatant that the Yankees broadcasters on YES Network questioned if Verdugo was hurt.“He’s beat up,” Boone said that night in his postgame interview. “I get [that it’s a bad look], but I don’t have any issue with how hard he’s playing the game.”Later that night, I spoke to Verdugo privately after his group interview, and he reluctantly admitted that he’s been dealing with a leg issue that he didn’t want to get into, while adding he runs hard when he feels the need to run hard.<a href="https://www.nj.com/yankees/2024/09/doggin-it-yankees-alex-verdugo-tells-why-hes-not-always-running-hard.html">“With nobody on and I roll one to first</a> or second and I see that the guy has possession and he’s going to make a transfer, I don’t really see a big deal to burn out the wheels,” Verdugo said.The Yankees had to know what they could be getting themselves into during the Winter Meetings last December when they traded for Verdugo the day before they traded for Juan Soto.Boone is close with Red Sox manager Alex Cora, so he surely was informed what was going on in Boston. Cora benched Verdugo and called him out publicly last season for showing up to a game just two hours before first pitch. This apparently wasn’t a one-time deal, either. After the trade, the Boston Globe wrote, “Verdugo, a talented player, was warned about being late and crossed the line one too many times.”The night of the trade, a major league scout told me, “The Red Sox got rid of a headache. Verdugo marches to his own tune. He’s always been like that.”Expecting the worse, I grew to like Verdugo right away. He’s honest, outgoing, entertaining and available to talk almost every day, before and after games for as long as you need him. He’s probably the best interview on the team, too.Verdugo is popular with his teammates because he keeps the clubhouse loose. He’s the hitter’s version of reliever Tommy Kahnle, who has been the second loudest and outgoing Yankee this year after being the runaway winner in 2023. One of Verdugo’s biggest fans is Aaron Judge.On the field, however, Verdugo has been a disappointment.The Yankees traded for Verdugo because they wanted his left-handed bat and quality corner outfield play on the field, and his personality and energy in the dugout and clubhouse.Aside from a game in Baltimore, the last before the All-Star break, he’s been really good in left field, certainly a big upgrade from the cast of 10 who played the position last season.But after being a good contact hitter with decent power throughout his career, Verdugo was batting .237 with 12 homers, 58 RBI and a .659 OPS in 138 games through Tuesday.After his two-homer game in his first game back in Fenway on June 14, Verdugo was hitting .266 average with nine homers and 41 RBI in 69 games, but he hit .214 with three homers and 17 RBI in his next 69 games through Tuesday. He’s been a lot better since last August, hitting .333 with two homers in 15 games, but most of his 18 hits were soft-contact singles.While Yankees management and coaching staff were weighing all that, there has been a lot of outside pressure to bring in No. 1 prospect <a href="https://www.nj.com/yankees/2023/09/jasson-dominguez-was-in-womb-when-dad-imagined-yankees-career-then-had-bat-ball-and-glove-in-crib.html">Jasson Dominguez</a> to play left field, and plenty of criticism when Dominguez was passed over for a September call-up when rosters expanded from 26 to 28.Instead, the Yankees summoned in outfielder/pinch-run specialist Duke Ellis, a rookie who had been claimed off waivers just four days earlier.The Yankees had one position player to bring in and Ellis was the pick until infielder Jon Berti returned from a long IL stint. The Yankees didn’t want to call up Dominguez and have him sit on the bench for a week, then farmed back to Triple-A to activate Berti.For a week, Boone and GM Brian Cashman took turns saying the organization still was committed to Verdugo while adding Dominguez wouldn’t return unless he’d play regularly.It played out just as the Yankees planned with Ellis and Berti, but that roster swap on Monday included a same-day move that excited fans. When infielder DJ LeMahieu hit the injured list with a hip impingement, the Yankees called up Dominguez.About time.The Yankees’ change of mind came with Dominguez hot in Triple-A and two days after Verdugo almost embarrassed himself by being picked off at first base on a flyout to center. Verdugo was called out, then ruled safe after a replay challenge.That carelessness on the bases might have been the last straw.Still, there’s no assurance that Dominguez, 21 years old with very little big-league experience, will be any better for the remainder of the season than Verdugo, who is playing for a contract with free agency on the horizon.Dominguez was just 1-for-7 in his first two games back, leaving him 1-for-11 with five strikeouts counting his one-day call-up to play left in the Little League World Series Classic on Aug. 18. But memories of his four-homer, eight-game cameo last September prior to his torn ACL and Tommy John surgery — plus Verdugo’s prolonged struggles — made this a low-risk switch.If Dominguez looks overmatched for two weeks, the Yankees can always go back to Verdugo, but I doubt it comes to that.Regardless, Dominguez and Verdugo on the roster is better than Verdugo starting and Dominguez in the minors for the stretch run and playoffs.I’ve often wondered in the last few weeks if the Yankees’ <a href="https://www.nj.com/yankees/2024/09/yankees-clay-holmes-discusses-demotion-his-take-on-11-blown-saves.html">stubbornness to stick with Clay Holmes</a> as the closer and Verdugo playing left was going to cost them the AL East title.They finally cut the cord on Holmes last week in Texas after he blew his 11th save, and Luke Weaver looked really good last weekend at Wrigley Field picking up his first career save and Wednesday night against the Royals, when he got the win in a 4-3 walkoff in the 11th inning.Whether the Yankees stick with Weaver or mix and match like Boone predicted, they needed to at least try to fix what was broken.Same thing with Verdugo.Now, I see the Yankees as the best team in the American League because they’re the least flawed, especially with Dominguez in left and Weaver closing.Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription.Randy Miller may be reached at <a href="mailto:%20rmiller@njadvancemedia.com">rmiller@njadvancemedia.com</a>.</div></body>

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Has Yankees’ Alex Verdugo, here for only a season, already overstayed his welcome?

NEW YORK — There were two occasions this season when I was in the middle of a conversation in the Yankees clubhouse with Alex Verdugo before a game and we were interrupted by bench coach Brad Ausmus. Both times, Ausmus walked up to us, made a motion with his...

Has Yankees’ Alex Verdugo, here for only a season, already overstayed his welcome?

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