Jasson Dominguez initially thought it was a joke.

Devin Williams was notably happy with the change.

And the news erased what Yankees bench coach Brad Ausmus, the 18-year Major Leaguer who spent five years in the club’s farm system, once knew as part of the fabric of the organization.

It has been nearly five months since Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner’s Feb. 21 announcement that the franchise’s no-beards policy would be no more, a seismic shift from the precedent his father, George M. Steinbrenner III, set in the mid-1970s.

At first, it may have been weird for fans, players and coaches alike. But the Yankees’ freedom to grow facial hair – “well-groomed beards,” as Steinbrenner described the new policy – has become the norm.

“Right now, we’re kind of getting used to it,” Dominguez, who sports a beard, told Newsday last week. “But those first couple days, it [felt] weird to be at the clubhouse.”

Said Williams: “I obviously would prefer to have a beard, so I was happy about it.”

Plenty of Yankees have beards these days, including Carlos Rodon, Giancarlo Stanton, Austin Wells – who previously repped a mustache – and Cody Bellinger among others.

“I don't know how it's been perceived externally, but at this point, it's not a conversation,” Ausmus said. “It's like the paint on the wall. You don't even notice anymore.”

Ausmus, drafted by the Yankees in 1987, was accustomed to the original policy from his first day in professional baseball. The team’s second-year bench coach, who, like the players, was not allowed to grow a beard last season, had one as of last week.

“It comes and goes,” he said. “I shave it off at times. I shaved it off a couple weeks ago. I let it grow a little bit.

“It’s probably more out of laziness that I don’t shave it sometimes than it is some type of statement.”

Williams did not choose to be a Yankee.

A two-time All-Star, two-time NL Reliever of the Year and 2020 NL Rookie of the Year with the Brewers, the righthander was shipped to the Bronx in exchange for Nestor Cortes, Caleb Durbin and cash considerations last December.

Williams obliged to the old rule and showed up to spring training with an unfamiliar clean-shaven look. He was viewed by many as the final domino leading to the change.

How true is that, really?

“I don't know,” he said. “At the end of the day, it wasn't my decision. So can't really take credit for it.”

Williams has a 4.58 ERA and 13 saves in 35 1/3 innings this season, but his numbers have been significantly better after a rocky start. He has a 1.90 ERA with nine saves in 23 2/3 innings since May 7.

He will be a free agent this winter. If Williams had the chance to make his own decision last offseason, the old policy would have played a role.

“Given the choice, it would have been a factor,” he said.

Now, if the Yankees want to re-sign him, it won’t be.

“It's just progress,” Williams said. “Moving with the times.”

Steinbrenner deliberated the change in recent years and spoke to both current and former Yankees leading up to his decision.

At the time, he said that the “vast majority” of men in their 20s, 30s and into their 40s in the United States have beards, mentioning Vice President JD Vance and members of Congress. He called the old policy “outdated” and “somewhat unreasonable.”

He also noted his concern of the former policy being a roadblock to signing free agents.

“If I ever found out that a player we wanted to acquire to make us better, to get us a championship, did not want to be here, and if he had the ability, would not come here because of that policy, that would be very, very concerning,” Steinbrenner said in February. “And I’m fairly convinced that’s a real concern.”

Yankees captain Aaron Judge also agreed in February, when he said: “I think the rule will be good. I think it will help a lot of guys. If it gets us a couple more players that will help us win games, I think everybody will be on board with that.”

But would it really affect the decision of a free agent mulling whether to join the franchise?

“I wouldn’t say so,” Ben Rice said last week. “I think if you want to be a Yankee, you want to be a Yankee. If you want to go on another team, you want to go to another team. I think everyone's situation is different. So whatever works best for them and their family, they just go there.”

Dominguez was only 16 when he signed with the Yankees as an international free agent on July 2, 2019.

The thought of having facial hair while playing for the organization never crossed his mind as a potential reality.

“Oh, no, no. I never thought that would be possible,” he said. “Even when they gave me the news, I thought it was some kind of joke or something. But I mean, baseball is changing a lot, and I think the Yankees do a lot of changing with [it].”

In previous years, Dominguez said he would start growing his beard “as soon as [it’s] the offseason.” His family and friends have told him he looks better with a beard, and he could only remember one person that told him otherwise.

But, earlier this season, he also recalled fans in leftfield yelling at him to shave it.

“There’s fans that prefer to keep the facial hair policy to not grow a beard,” Dominguez said. “But there’s fans that like it, too.”

Rice has been in the Yankees organization since being selected in the 12th round of the 2021 draft. He is one of the players that is beardless.

“I've never even tried,” Rice said. “But I doubt I'd be able to grow anything good.”

Rice added he is “indifferent” about not being among the Yankees with beards.

“I think it just happens naturally,” Rice said. “I mean, guys grow them in the offseason. Maybe it looked a little different when guys are in a Yankee uniform with beards on for a little bit, but I think everyone's adjusted by now.”

Of course, some guys have looked better with one than others.

“Yeah, there was definitely discussion,” Ausmus said. “Like, oh, this player, that player. ‘Actually, a beard looks pretty good on you, you should stick with it.’ And other guys, ‘You look a lot younger without a beard.’

“But at this point, it's kind of white noise.”

Hard to imagine just a few months ago.