The tearing-off of the Band-Aid continues, Chase Headley-style

Yesterday, the earnest and occasionally "deadly" Chase Headley whacked the Yankees' first grand slam of 2016, ending what might have been a quirky, cool way for future historians to admire this club: The Year of No Grand Salami. Several innings later, the YES, Mr. Steinbrenner, Chirping Society posted a graphic showing that Chase has hit above .300 for the last month, and he's now closing in on his milestone 20th RBI. (He has 18.) His average is a "respectable" .251, and his throws to first are no longer sailing to Harlem.

The chirpers interviewed Chase after the game, and he said all the Jeteresque right things, as he always has, and you wanted to hope that the Matrix just tweaked, and from now on, he'll hit like it's 2009 in San Diego. But the universe doesn't change, and neither probably did Chase, and it's been weeks since I stopped believing in the Tankees - (they need to tank to someday be good.) When I look at Chase Headley, I see a hard-working, likable player who happens to be another artery-clogging veteran at the wrong season in both his career journey and ours.

Last night, I was more interested in Miguel Andujar.

Andujar is a 21-year-old Dominican 3B who two weeks ago was promoted to Chris Christie's joyless city of Trenton. He represents the "hope" of a farm system that has grown one star 3B - one - in the last 30 years: Mike Lowell, whom we traded for three bails of hay. Third base has been a disaster studying to be a calamity. Among Andujar's Double A teammates are Dante Bichette Jr. and Cito Culver, two top Yankee picks who took their turns at 3B, and who now must be taking online courses in flipping realty. Farther down in Pulaski - way way down, in a short-season Single A rookie league - is somebody named Dermis Garcia, on whom the Yankees bestowed vast millions of dollars two years ago, when they they signed a "class" of Latino 16-year-olds. Dermis headed the list, money-wise. Supposedly, he's put on weight and might not play 3B anymore. We'll soon know.

But yesterday, Andujar went 4-8 in a Trenton doubleheader, lifting his small sample size average to .310. If you are looking for a Yankee 3B that matters, he tops the list. (In case you're wondering, at Scranton, Donovan Solano, a 28-year-old veteran minor leaguer is hitting .289. I suppose if Headley tweaked a gonad tomorrow, he would be our fall-back. Exciting, eh?)

Of course, we could have been flush at 3B, watching daily box scores from Trenton, if we had signed a fellow named Yoan Moncada, now knocking down fences in the Redsocks' system. Ah... that word... YOAN MONCADA... SLOOOOOOOWLY, I TURNED...

So Chase Headley gets at least another two months, chipping away at another two years. We get to watch him chase respectability. Think we'll hit another grand slam this season?