The lineup the Yankees field Monday night in Texas is far less important than the lineup that takes the field for Game 1 of the playoffs, whether it’s the best-of-three wild-card round or the best-of-five division series.

Perhaps it is best, then, to save the outrage over the hierarchy’s decision not to promote Jasson Dominguez to the main squad on Sunday, while clubs were allowed to expand the squad to 28 players by adding one outfielder and one pitcher.

Because while the Yanks opted to promote 26-year-old baserunning specialist Duke Ellis, who has four career major league plate appearances, as their designated position player — where’s Herb Washington when you need him? — the decision is hardly final. Dominguez can be called up at any time.

“(He was) definitely in the conversation and will continue to be in the conversation,” manager Aaron Boone said Sunday before the Yankees were defeated 14-7 by the Cardinals at the Stadium in a game so lacking in solid, basic baseball that it resembled an inferior 10U rec league contest. “When he comes up, you want him to play every day, so he’s going to continue to be in that conversation.”

If Boone and GM Brian Cashman want Dominguez to play every day, they can make it happen. That’s in their hands. It’s not like they’re barred by decree from letting the 21-year-old play as much as they want. For now, though, they’re opting to keep Alex Verdugo as their regular left fielder, despite his sub-.550 OPS since mid-June.

The question, which is unanswerable at this point, is whether the team is holding on to Verdugo — who had two hits from the ninth hole — because they want him in the lineup when the playoffs begin or whether they believe Dominguez needs more prep work at the Triple-A level before he’s ready for the crucible.

The organization’s top prospect may still be recovering from the oblique injury that set him back about a month earlier in the season. He’s had just 151 plate appearances for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre — including an 0-for-4 Sunday — and 201 total at the minor league level this year. There are three weeks left on the SWB schedule.

“I feel like he’s starting to play well the last couple weeks after that oblique injury,” Boone said. “So, it’s a tough decision right now, but that doesn’t mean it won’t change in a couple days, a week, two weeks or whatever, but it’s important that he continues to play right now.”

The Yankees are not afraid to give their prospects a chance. This is probably not a veterans vs. youngster decision, with Verdugo 28 and in his sixth full season in the big leagues. If that is the case, it is a kind of broken mindset, but I doubt it.

Boone has been pumping Verdugo up as a plus defender all year, even if the eye tests and stats don’t necessarily support that assertion. There was one on Sunday, but in a game in which St. Louis catcher Ivan Herrera’s attempt to steal a pitch to Jazz Chisholm’s sixth-inning catcher hit pitcher John King in the back, even as he ducked, that’s pretty much a footnote.

Anthony Rizzo returned to the lineup for the first time since suffering a broken right forearm in a collision at Fenway on June 16, going 2-for-4 with a run-scoring double to the opposite field. The Yankees are near the bottom of the league in virtually every offensive category at first base, so Rizzo’s return could be notable.

Of course, when Rizzo left the lineup, he was hitting .223/.289/.341 with a .630 OPS and a -0.5 bWAR. While struggling with post-concussion symptoms, Rizzo was hitting .174/.272/.227 with a .499 OPS and a 0.5 bWAR. The Yankees need the career model Rizzo, not the imposter.

“I think the expectation is to take it day by day, but I expect to come out and just be myself. That’s the goal, just be myself,” Rizzo said. “When things aren’t going well, it’s easy to look at the negative if you want to, but there’s also the focus on getting back to being good. So that’s always the focus.

“You can’t avoid it. But that’s the thing about being a baseball player, you go through it and hopefully you’re on the right track today.”

Rizzo had his two hits from seventh in the order. Verdugo, who has batted eighth or ninth in each of the last seven games, had his two hits from ninth. Anthony Volpe had a hit from eighth. That’s a reflection of the “length … length” of the order that Boone cited when referring to both Rizzo and Verdugo.

The Yankees have lost four of their last five games and won just 11 of their last 23. They haven’t been able to shake the Orioles, even though Baltimore has been under .500 for four of the past 10 weeks. If winning the division to avoid that first-round exit is a priority, then the Texas lineup on Monday might just count.

But honestly. We all know that October is going to define this team. It will be up to the Yankees to have the best version of themselves available to make the run. It is almost impossible to believe that the team will not give Dominguez a legitimate chance to be a part of it.