As Yankee 2016 dream team wins awards, the brass wants us to believe things weren't so bad. NOT GONNA HAPPEN.

If there were any doubts about the 2016 powerhouse Yankee lineup. which came within a week of snatching the Away-Field One-Game Wild Card crown from - (um, excuse me, but I've temporarily forgotten who it was... Grand Rapids? Elmira? Ashtabula?) - they have ended, as the team is AWASH IN AWARDS! In fact, we'll be awash in awaiting awards for awhile, until awoken aweigh!

Last week, Brett Gardner won the Golden Glove for LF. Now, Gary Sanchez is a finalist for AL Rookie of the Year. Next week, who knows, maybe Tony Pena will win the Platinum Fanny for Bench Coach of the Year.

And - well - that will be that. In awards, we got Gardy, Gary and garbage. And the weirdest part of this is, I cannot ignore the sense that MLB is being charitable to the Retrieval Empire, hoping to console us for the sorry, four-year malaise that we have endured.

But first, let's congratulate Gardy, the de facto Yankee captain. He won the Gold Glove for LF - (the fact that he should be in CF, notwithstanding.) He's probably going to be traded for one of those 26-year-old, underachieving, small-market power arms that give Cashman a woody. Lately, there seems to be a mini-campaign to convince us that Brett actually had a good season. His on-base percentage was .351. Trouble is, my gut recollections don't jive. He batted only .261. His HRs fell to 7 (he hit 17 and 16 in previous years) and stole only 16 bases. He once stole 45. He peaked in mid-2015, when voted last man into the All-Star game. Ever since, it's been downhill. Don't get me wrong, I love the guy. I'm glad for the Gold Glove. But next August, he'll turn 34. We own him for three more seasons. (We have a 2019 team option and a $2 million buyout, which I suspect we would invoke.) What are we going to get in a deal? Another solid OF glove?

OK, so let's give Gary Sanchez his due. He's the closest we have to a future star. He is one of three finalists for Rookie of the Year, which is incredible, because we only saw half a season from him. Over a full year, he would surely have hit 30 HRs, and he would certainly win the award. (He might even have won the Silver Slugger as catcher.) Trouble is, we didn't get to see a full year. Towards the end, his game was slipping, even his lightning throws to second. (Two errors in two games against the Angels.) I have no problem anointing him Yankee Catcher of the Future. But we still don't know: Is he Jorge Posada or Kevin Maas?

All I'm saying here is that while we luxuriate in self-congratulation, let's not forget that the Yankees are currently in one of the most miserable stretches of the franchise's history. One bad off-season deal, or if Food Stamps Hal continues to short-ball on international talent, and this down period could rival the late 1980s. Things are NOT good. We can congratulate Gardy and Gary, it's still a $210 million mound of garbage that defines this organization.