You're Happy When I'm On My Knees. Episode IV

All right, let's get down to some of the harder choices in "Should I Stay or Should I Go?"

Starting with beloved veteran...

Gardy:  Has the time come to say good-bye?  The fact is, the Yankees have always regarded Gardner as a regular, starting outfielder...and almost every year, like clockwork, he would wind down and have a terrible second half.

Rather than take that as a hint that Gardner's real role was as an invaluable no. 4 outfielder, the Yanks just kept doing the same thing and expecting different results, as is their wont.

Then came 2017, when Gardner, for whatever mysterious reason, seemed to really revive in September and October and find a new power reserve, to boot.  That has proved to be a late-career penumbra this season.  Gardy was not only awful statistically, but looked absolutely absent at the plate, with his maitre'd swing.  He was also erratic in the outfield, and doesn't steal much anymore.

What should this tell us?  Back at a much-reduced price?  Or so long?

Me debro ir o quedarme...

CC:  Talk about being on your knees.  This is literally where CC seemed to be half the season, each time ploughing a six-mule trough into the Yankee Stadium turf and filling us all with dread.

Now comes the word that he's popping in for arthroscopic knee surgery.  We will need pitching bodies more than ever in 2019...but just how far can CC reasonably be expected to go for us?  He's already down to a 4-5-inning pitcher.

We will always love The Bear for the great season he gave us in 2009, and pretty damned good ones in 2010-2012, and 2017.

But  how far must our loyalty—expressed in huge contracts for several awful seasons—go?   Is it worthwhile for us to re-sign a guy, even for still less money, who is likely to wear out our bullpen (best-case scenario) or check out in May (worst-case scenario)?

Happ:  When it was hip to be hep, Happ was hep. Now he's hip, and it seems likely the Yanks will hit him with at least a competitive offer in the free-agent market?

To be sure, he really helped us get through that staggering second half.  But we certainly seemed to have pushed the idea of "Happ, the Red Sox Killer" to the breaking point.  Don't expect to see that again.  Is there enough remaining beyond his alleged dominance over Boston?  And what should that mean?  Anything beyond a two-year deal?

Tengo frio por los ojos...