Yes, Joe, there is another way to use your closer

Last night, when Indian manager Terry Francona summoned closer Andrew Miller in the fifth to face the gruesome heart of the Redsocks order, you could imagine Joe Girardi at home, vaulting from his bean chair and screaming, "YOU CAN'T DO THAT!"

Such insanity: Using your stopper - aka best pitcher - to neutralize your opponent's toughest hitters and preserve a lead! What in the name of Larry Rothschild is going on? Good grief, last May, when the Yankees had three closers, Joe steadfastly refused to call on any of them until the seventh - positioning them like bowling pins - and only then if the Yankees held a lead. (Which wasn't often.)

Thus, as games flew out the window - and the division race with it - Joe didn't bother the Zen meditations of his dream trio. Bases loaded, need two strikeouts? Don't rouse El Chapo from his sleep. Just send in Nick Goody - or wait, Kirby Yates! The big guns were too valuable to use in a loss. (BTW, thanks to the recent Wild Card debacle, Buck Showalter will now be questioned about such a strategy for the rest of his career.) The Big Three had roles, and nobody was supposed to deviate from them. That's what rules are for, gadammit. And the first rule of the Yankee rules is this: OBEY ALL RULES!

Well... the owner has another rule: Wrangle every last thin dime from a contract. The Yankees have one more year on Girardi's papers, so let's face it: He isn't going anywhere. Considering Dellin Betances's collapse last month, it's clear we'll need to fortify our bullpen. I wonder if Girardi was watching last night and pondering options, because 2016 was a long, long season, and if you look at our pitching staff, dear God, you realize 2017 could be even longer.