You go to war with the infield you have...

Having spent the last three months in a defensive, reactionary mode, the Yankees apparently have made a decision about future policy: Let's assume a defensive, reactionary mode.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the team with two outfields and no infield.

How, you might ask, how does a franchise do such a thing?

Well, it's complicated. And it requires a complete off-season of reactions to dominoes dropping elsewhere.

First, in October, they had to deal with the utter shame and felony-level debasement of watching Boston steamroll its way through the World Series. Remember how we were forced to root for teams like St. Louis and Tampa? Ugh. So we sat there, covered our heads and waited for the bomb barrage to end.

Then they had to come to terms with the reality of Robbie Cano demanding - and receiving - the moon. All year, they figured he wouldn't really leave. He was just joking. At a certain point, Brian Cashman must have realized he was gone, it wasn't a ruse, so they started making calls to Jacoby Ellsbury's agent.

Then they had to wait for the decision by A-Rod's hearing officer. As they waited, several third base options fell off the board.

Finally, it was the Tanaka sweepstakes, as he chose his future home.

If you look at the last three months, the only move that seems to have originated directly by the Yankees is the signing of Brian McCann: They wanted him, and they got him. Everything else was a reaction to something happening somewhere else.

So the next bomb will come in the inevitable form of a broken bone or tweaked elbow. When somebody falls, Cashman will charge up the metal detectors and head to the scrap heap. It will probably be infused with many new exciting names of former Astros and Indians, who could beat out the Vernon Wells and Brennan Bosches.

Listen: I understand that there has been an unnatural confluence of outside events affecting the Yankees this winter. I don't recall so many things affecting the team. But at a certain point, fans have the right to wonder how the franchise got into this mess, and whether the managers who directed the army into this ambush are capable of getting us out.