For the Yankees, every game is now a "bullpen start"

It's been 11 games since a Yankee starter pitched more than five innings to get a win. JA Happ did it May 25 against KC. Ever since the trapdoor opened beneath Domingo German - our "ace" in April-May - the Death Star has known no stopper, no innings-eater, no No. 1 starter, to staunch the bleeding from a bullpen that is increasingly under siege. Last night, the gaskets blew.  

Last night, as The Master might say, the Yankee chickens came home to roost. We are seeing a flat-tire rotation, where five-inning starts have become the new complete game. If management poor-mouths on Dallas Keuchel - who faced more batters last year than anybody in the AL - we might as well flash on the Jumbo-Tron our billionaire owner's preference for money over the "pride ad tradition" touted on house ads. Somebody will sign Keuchel. If they outbid the Yankees, it will simply be because they want more to win.

But wait... I hereby propose a staggeringly new, unprecedented concept: Let's not crap our pants over a three-game losing streak. Even if we're swept, (as I sense we will be), this won't be the end of the world. 

Admit it: We all knew a slump was coming. This isn't the 1998 Yankees. They won't win 120. Gio Urshela may be the feelgood story of 2019, a veritable Katy Perry anthem of empowerment, but he's not Wade Boggs. Cameron Maybin is wondrous to watch, but there's a reason he was picked off the scrap heap. And the spot-welds are popping open on German. We'll face a dogfight in August, and Boston will make a run. Between now and July 31, trade winds will turn the Bronx into Tornado Alley. Even if our owner man-ups and signs Keuchel, the Death Star will be churning for more arms at the deadline. I have a bad feeling about tonight, but the Yankees might need to bottom out before they go on another hot streak. If so, maybe the sooner the better. 

Last night, while the muthership crashed, two hopeful events occurred in the hinterlands of Triple A. For Scranton, Chance Adams threw a 7-inning shutout (a double-header complete game.) He gave up three hits, his second straight scoreless outing. To top it off, Nestor "Ocasio" Cortes Jr. went 6 scoreless innings, gave up one hit. Yes, they've both been spotty in The Show - what rookies aren't? - but we're aren't replacing Aroldis Chapman here. They would take over for Luis Cessa, who has been in meltdown mode for weeks. Watching Cessa surrender two HRs, back to back and belly to belly, killing all hope for a comeback, you had to wonder if there isn't somebody, anybody, in Scranton. Well, Adams and Cortes are knocking at the door. Right now, I'd take either of them over Cessa, and maybe CC too.

Today, a hellish chorus is calling for the Yankees to trade Clint Frazier. Dear God. For reasons likely rooted in the opioids crises, some Yankee sites have decided he's a "character issue," and that he's somehow blaming the media for his fielding woes. Wow. When he arrived, Frazier was greeted by a crust of Gotham egos who wanted to display their dominance, a bunch of Dick Young dinosaurs, and if he's now telling them to go to hell, good for him. (Yes, we are a fan site, and we take unbridled stances on everything about the Yankees, but we don't make up shit.) I view Frazier as one of the most refreshing young faces on this team. I believe he can hit, and if we trade him for a rag-arm, we will regret it for the rest of our lives. 

Moreover, if we trade Frazier because the billionaire on his throne wouldn't throw some dimes on Keuchel - in the face of a crisis - shame on the Yankee aristocracy. I'm tired of reading about skyrocketing Yankee revenues, while the team pleads poverty on payroll. I'm a lifelong Yankee fan. But I don't root for the team to make money. I root for them to win. Maybe I've been making a mistake. 

Winds of change are blowing through the NYC landscape. For the last two years, the Yankees have easily dominated the back pages of the tabloids, as chronicled by the charts on this site. This year, something is happening. The Mets, who aren't that good, remain within spitting distance of the lead. To stay atop the New York food chain, the Yankees must win. If Keuchel goes to the Tampa Rays or Minnesota Twins, I wonder what those numbers will look like in August? New York could be a Mets town. Truth be told, it might already be. Food Stamps Hal better wake up. These shifts happen slowly, and once they take place, they're not easy to rectify.