The wolf is at the door.

It's here. Deal with it, everybody. The wolf is at the door.

The 2018 World Series - with Boston now up, 3-1 - is cooked.

All your secret fantasies - that somebody, Houston, Cleveland, somebody, would step up and deny Boston the world - they were morphine hallucinations. You've been lying in a coma for 10 months, and now it's time to wake up. Boston is the world champion. Only one team, one franchise, ever stood between them and the ring - it was our job - and we failed. You can wheedle and blather how our season came within 10 feet of a grand slam, but it won't change a thing. We failed. It's done. 

And tomorrow, one franchise will stand between Boston and a two- or three-year championship dynasty, and it's not the phony Dodgers. The wild card Yankees are that franchise, and this winter, they will need massive infusions not just of money, but of youth.  

Coming soon is the most important winter of our Yankee fan lives, because - make no mistake here - the wolf is at the door. Boston is poised to win multiple championships, and they will not stand pat while the Yankees sign one or two, or even three free agents. Boston's ownership does it right. They willingly tanked for two straight years, building a youthful core, while the Yankees continually flailed at achieving relevance. They will add even more to their MLB-highest payroll, because they want to win rather than pad their bank accounts.

It's not my province to tell the Yankees who to trade and who to sign. But the team's deficiencies are no secret. They need: 

1. Starting pitching. They must sign sign at least one, maybe two solid starters. And Cashman will surely trade for another "power arm," of which his track record is horrible.  

2. A shortstop or secondbaseman who can fill the void until Didi Gregorius returns. This is difficult to assess, because we don't even know how long Didi will be out, or how much he'll be compromised when he does return. But if we go four months with Big Toe or Tyler Wade, or a minor league journeyman, we'll be chasing the wild card again... and one of these years, we'll pay the price for that.

3. A big lefty bat, someone who can hit between Judge and Stanton, and keep opposing teams from loading up against a righty-lineup. 

4. A quality fielding first-baseman, presumably with some pop. We need a 1B who can save our infielders from 20 to 30 throwing errors in a season. Neither Greg Bird nor Luke Voit looks like that player.

5. Help from the farm. Last year, we thought our depth was limitless, until suddenly, we found we had traded away all our assets. Next year, we need something from Clint Frazier, Justus Sheffield, Jonathan Loasigna, Dominic Acevedo, Chance Adams, et al. 

6. More bullpen. Two years ago, it was Chad Green. Last year, Jonathan Holder stepped up. Next year, some massive lunk with 98-mph heat needs to rise from Scranton and become a cog. Or we need to sign somebody.

Supposedly, the Yankee brain trust spent last week cobbling together plans for 2018. The big question is how much the owner will agree to spend. We have no power over Hal Steinbrenner's whims. But if Steinbrenner is comfortable with Boston rattling off two or three world championships, the Yankiverse must become ornery and angry. We don't have to spend our money on an ownership that's looking to pad its wallet.

Folks, the wolf is at the door.