Yankees at the crossroads: The next two weeks could determine the next five years

Losses like yesterday used to be an ice pick to the heart. I'd be writhing on the floorboards, eating my hair. Now, it's just a trip to the kitchen for a sandwich. Today's torturous, out-of-body loss is just a mosquito bite. It just reminds us not to hope for a miracle.

The Yankees are 6-15 against the three AL East teams - Boston, Baltimore and Toronto - they must beat. That, alone, should kill all hope. Still, the Retrieval Empire remains 4 below .500 and with 12 upcoming games against super-stiffs - the Angels, Rockies and Twins - they could soon be flaunting their erect nipples and blathering about that Wild Card away team birth.

Between now and July 1, two alternative universes will compete.

The Continued Eternal Wallow. We'd win a few games, assure ourselves that we're legtimate contenders, and chase the obscure mathematical chances of a resurgence. Hey, when you own your media outlets, you can believe anything.

CC would have to be Cy Young the rest of the season. It's hard enough imagining him staying unhurt. A-Rod would have to catch fire. Somebody must play 1B. In the Wallow Universe, the Yankees will tread water until 2018, when the big contracts end and Hal can sign a new flock of Bozos. Here's to Jose Batista at 40!

Supposedly, the Yankees have talent deep in the farm system - (how many years has that been the promise?) - and maybe they will snag a Wild Card. The Royals and Giants have both taken Wild Cards to the World Series, so maybe the Yankees could run one to the end. That's how other franchises view success - a world series appearance every 10 years. If the Yankees are now just another run of the mill team - the New York Padres - why would we consider ourselves different? And we can take comfort in knowing that we lead MLB in ownership profit. Hoo-fucking-ray.

The Self-Guided Collapse. If the Yankees can't beat - say - the Rockies next week - a couple twigs ought to snap in Hal's frontal love zone. Not even Paul O'Neill's view on tacos can divert attention from the ongoing meltdown.

At the least, it will be time to trade one of our Big Three relievers. Who needs three closers on a team that doesn't close? As for CC, A-Rod, Ellsbury, McCann, Gardy, et al - we're fourth place with them, we can be fourth place without them. Trouble is, yard sales do not ensure success. The Redsocks came in dead last twice before this resurgence. It's taken the Yankees five wacko years to achieve this dung hole of mediocrity - five years of botched draft picks and overpriced long-term deals. It may take another five to turn this death barge around.

We are midway through the worst Yankee decade in history, a period that will be remembered in New York City for the resurgence of the Mets. Moreover, the Redsocks might be building a long-term powerhouse. And the worst of the worst, we got to watch all of this coming, every rotting flea bite of it, in YES-Mo super agony slow motion... while they told us how lucky we are.

Well, the crossroads are here, folks. Honestly, I don't know which scenario to prefer. I have absolutely no hope for the 2016 Yankees doing anything more than chasing .500 - which means being within shooting distance of the final Wild Card slot. Whoopie. But will we get anything in deadline trades? I'm not so sure about that, either.

There is, though, one supreme fear: That Cashman trades a legitimate prospect for a stopgap 1B, a Lyle Overbay. Here's how it works: The YES machine praises the deal and gushes about how the Yankees gave up nothing, nobody, no legitimate prospect, nada. (Anybody remember Mark Melancon?) - That would be the ultimate indignity.

At this point, it's what we should expect.