How might the Yankees handle the upcoming roster crunch?

Option 1: Giancarlo Stanton to IL, Jasson Domínguez optioned

Joe Torre used to say that these things have a way of working themselves out, and at time of writing, that may have happened. This past Friday, Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton felt tightness in his right calf, was removed from the game, and has since been listed day-to-day with a lower leg injury. Taking advantage of the fact that Thursday’s off day means the team doesn’t need a fifth starter this time through the rotation, the team optioned the struggling Luis Gil to Triple-A Scranton and promoted Jasson Domínguez, temporarily operating with a short pitching staff in order to ensure that they had a full bench even with Stanton not playing. Many Yankees fans, myself included, would love to see the Martian get significant run as the team’s designated hitter in the event that Stanton ends up on the shelf for an extended time. The most likely scenario, though, is that the organization would promote a reliever to bring the pitching staff back to full strength, give Domínguez a little bit of run, and then option him back to Scranton when Volpe returns. This allows them to avoid making a decision entirely, and keep everyone on the roster.

Option 2: DFA Grichuk

If the Yankees intend to cut loose one of the veterans they started the season with, the ready option would be Grichuk. Just from a pure roster-building perspective, Grichuk is a tad redundant. He is a corner outfielder who hits left-handed pitching better than right-handed pitching, on a roster with a pair of utility players (Rosario and Caballero) who hit lefties better than righties and can play second, third, and both corner outfield spots (and, in the case of Cabby, also shortstop). When you factor in his measly .194/.212/.323 slash line, this choice seems like a no-brainer. Not so fast. The Yankees like to make decisions based on underlying metrics, not the counting stats, and, well, Grichuk’s performance has probably been better than his stat line would suggest. Heading into action last night, his Statcast profile looked like this:

Option 3: Option Escarra, use Ben Rice as backup catcher

When the Yankees re-signed Paul Goldschmidt this winter, I fully expected the team to use Ben Rice as the starting first baseman/backup catcher, just as they did for a good chunk of last season after Stanton returned from the IL and took back the DH spot from the young lefty. Soon, though, it became clear that this was not a path the Yankees truly wanted to explore, and although they kept him practicing with the catchers, he did not appear behind the plate until he made a token appearance there at the end of spring training. Suffice to say, it has worked out. Freed from the physical and mental toll of catching, Rice has been a veritable force at the plate in the early going, hitting his tenth homer of the season — a beautiful shot the other way to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead — while I was writing this article last night. As such, despite J.C. Escarra’s struggles both at the plate (he entered action last night with a 65 OPS+) and behind it (he has accrued -2 Defensive Runs Saved and 0 Outs Above Average, driven by his -1 Framing Runs), I do not expect the Yankees to pursue this path. Even so, it’s not an impossibility, and must at least be brought up. And so, barring something unforeseen, these appear to be the main options the Yankees have to handle their upcoming roster crunch. Which route do you think they will take?