Time is running out on Aaron Boone

There was a point last season - right around now, in fact - when every move Joe Girardi made turned to donkey crap. He'd bring in Dellin Betances, who was blowing big leads. He'd keep playing the ice-cold Aaron Judge, who needed time off. Come October, of course, he'd make the decision that would eventually become his legacy as "Clueless Joe:" He failed to demand a video replay against Houston, setting the table for a season-killing home run. He'd once been a successful manager, but as everything headed south, all Joe could do was stare into the abyss. 

Today, Girardi is becoming a more pleasant memory every day, as his successor Aaron Boone wilts in the summer heat. 

Before our very eyes, like a Penn & Teller trick show, we are watching the most talent-laden Yankee team in this decade turn into a bag of flaming poo. Worse, we are watching a team sleepwalk through what had been billed as the most important series of the season. 

We are watching Yankees jog out grounders with games on the line. We are watching Yankees fail to cover bases in critical situations. We are watching Yankees make mistakes you'd expect at the Little League World Series. We've been reduced to watching Phil Nevin - our modern incarnation of Stump Merrill - shouting in the dugout. But there is no Paul O'Neill on this team, busting water coolers. There is no Billy Martin, calling out stars. 

We are being run not by a manager but by a head of Human Resources. 

Thursday night, as the esteemed Local Bargain Jerk noted, the Yankiverse was horrified, as Boone allowed Jonathan Holder to become a trivia question - seven batters, seven runs - and a critical game flew out the window. For weeks now, Boone has been leaving his pitchers in too long, removing them only after the damage is done. But the humiliation of Holder - who clearly had nothing that night - could linger for a long time.   

Under Boone, the Yankees have floundered against the most pitiable lineups in baseball. Now, facing a good team, they've been undressed and outclassed on the national stage. These are not losses. These are fucking embarrassments. 

Today, at 4:05 p.m., we likely will add to the malaise, sacrificing a rookie - (who this season has been a disappointment at Triple A) - to the gods. We had the deepest roster in baseball. We supposedly fortified our staff last week. How did we get to sending Chance Adams into the lion's den... in his first major league start? Wow. Are we screwed up, or what? 

When I think of Chance Adams, I can't help but remember Chase Wright. Remember him? In 2007, the Yankees called up Wright, a promising young starter, after Mike Mussina and Carl Pavano went on the disabled list. They sent him into Fenway to face the surging Redsocks. 

He made it into the third inning. On the second time around the batting order... he made history. Kaboom, kaboom, kaboom, kaboom... four straight bombs. Manny Ramirez, JD Drew, Mike Lowell, Jason Varitek. Joe Torre took him out. The Yankees sent him to Scranton. That September, he returned to pitch in one meaningless game... then never appeared again in the majors.

After tomorrow night, the Yankees might just be a punch line. And don't think for a minute that the Wild Card is a sure thing. Oakland won last night, their fourth in a row. They're now just 4-and-a-half behind, with Seattle to follow. It's the only race in the AL, and we are steadily tanking. 

Time is running out on Aaron Boone.