Be prepared: The Yankapalypse will soon commence

The first sign will be the trading of a closer, probably Aroldis Chapman. We'll get two or three prospects, hopefully better than what we traded for him, and the YES brigade will gush over Brian Cashman's magical ability to spin gold. It won't matter. The long-awaited Yankee collapse will finally be upon us.

It will have been 26 years since 1990, when the Yankees finished 7th in the AL East and lost 95 games. That was the time of Alvaro Espinosa and Jesse Barfield, Mel Hall and Hensley Meulens. It's also the year we started drafting high. Two years later, in June 1992, we used the sixth pick in the entire draft to choose Derek Jeter.

Maybe, if we're lucky...

But back to the apocalypse: Next to go will be CC Sabathia. It's not that he hasn't pitched well. It's the opposite. Other teams want him. The Yankees won't get much in return - a middling prospect, at best - but the franchise will absorb the last year and a half on Sabathia's contract. That's all Food Stamps Hal Steinbrenner wants: To cut his payroll.

Brett Gardner could go with CC, to sweeten the pot. These days, he's a mess. Gardy fell apart last July, and he has now sucked for nearly one whole revolution around the sun. It's not a slump anymore. It's a paradigm. To get much for Gardner, he might have to be a throw-in... maybe with Beltran?

Yes, somebody would want Beltran. The question with him (and CC, too) is whether he'll allow a trade to another city. Presumably, they want to play in the post-season. But if the kids are in school, maybe they just want to play out their time in NYC. Who can blame them?

Of course, Ivan Nova and Michael Pineda can go at any time. Best plan: Wait for either to pitch a good game, then peddle his butt. Tanaka and Eovaldi can stay, although let's face it, the Yankees will listen to every offer.

The end is near, folks. A few more losses, and the yard sales will be here.