The Yankee first base situation is desperately unhinged

FACT: Yankee fans love love love Luke Voit. 

Why not? Last fall, he was a breath of fresh air, a joyous, lumbering, barbell-lifting, opposite-field-slugging, over-achieving first-baseman. He rid us of Chasen Shreve. He has that haircut. He's 6'3" and 225, an outside linebacker and enforcer in our next bean-ball war. Today - Jan. 11 - he's our crazy, amped-up, lead-footed lug nut at fur-space, right? 

So... why do I think he's toast? 

Let me count the reasons.

1. Luke bats RH, like everybody else in the lineup. That means LH Greg Bird, the Yankee Rasputin - (he cannot be killed) - gets one more chance to heat up in March and win the position, or at least a platoon shot. Problem is, I'm not sure the Yankees will keep two full-time 1B on the 25-man roster. If Bird hits in Tampa, Voit is toast. 

2. Luke is a lousy fielder, more a pass rusher than 1B, and the 2019 Yankees definitely will need a glove man. (See Mitch Moreland in Boston last year.) With Miguel Andujar, Troy Tulowitzki and Gleyber Torres throwing Frisbees to first, a fan-friendly lump simply will not cut it. If Bird shows a better glove in Tampa - almost a certainty - Voit is toast.

3. Luke will have a hard time repeating his golden Yankee September. In less than 150 plate appearances, he hit 14 HRs and .333. Those numbers topped his minor league career, suggesting the month was an anomaly. (In the post-season, he hit .235.) In 2019, pitchers will adjust. If that happens in Tampa, Voit is toast.

4. Virtually every free agent signing the Yankees might make - from the Victoria's Secret supermodel Manny Machado to the Filene's Basement checkout clerk Josh Harrison - would unleash a domino-drop that obliterates Luke's future. Many would move Andujar to 1B where - because Luke also bats RH - he would be toast.

5. The Yankees simply are not done. Right now, their fate seems to hinge on whether Troy Tulowitzki can play SS for at least four months. I do not believe for one minute that Cooperstown Cashman will gamble the season - and his own career - on Tulo's tenderized tendons.

In hitter-happy Colorado, Tulowitzi was once a great player. Now, at 34, having been hobbled for two seasons, it's bat-shit crazy to think Cash would balance an entire season on such a player. The Yankees need to win this year. If they flop, Boston waltzes to an AL East title and maybe another ring, and the hordes would come for Cashman's mustache. 

Tulo could be Comeback Player of the Year - or tweak a gonad on March 1 and disappear into the void. Cash hasn't lasted this long in the Yankee House of Cards by taking such chances. It doesn't matter what he says in public. He'll have a backup strategy beyond Tyler Wade.

We once thought it would be Machado or Bryce Harper (who increasingly makes sense.) But Hal Steinbrenner simply cannot afford such players. They cost too much, and Yankees absolutely must tighten their belts! Money doesn't grow on trees, people! Good grief, the Yankees last year couldn't even afford to serve edible food at the stadium. This year, we'll be lucky to have clean jerseys. 

Last year, when 3B was open, Cashman brought to spring training Brandon Drury, Ronald Torreyes (now a Twin), Danny Espinosa, Jace Peterson, Neil Walker, Gleyber and Miggy. This year, he'll search the recycling bins for fur-spacemen. If Andujar moves to 1B, or Gary Sanchez, or Giancarlo Stanton, or Tulo, or - jeeze - almost anywhere you look, Voit is toast. It's only a matter of time.