The Yankees are now chasing second place and a demon from Hal Steinbrenner's past

 If the playoffs began today... the sixth-seeded, second-place Death Star would face the White Sox in a best of three in Chicago. (Game I: Lucas Giolito. Game II: Dallas Keuchel. Game III: Not necessary.) But it gets worse. Symbolically, they would face far more; they would confront Hal "Food Stamps" Steinbrenner's original sin: 

Yoan Moncada - ("That name! Slowwwwwly I turn...") - the single-most glaring and galling Yankee mistake of this millennium. 

In March of 2015, with the entire world expecting Hal to cough up the money to sign the 19-year-old Cuban refugee - (for months, we were said to have the inside track, and there was no downside to the deal, just money) - the Prince of Petty Cash suddenly hid under the bed, and Boston signed him. The Redsocks converted Moncada into Chris Sale and a world championship, while the Yankees dazzled us with Mason Williamses and Zolio Almontes, and an occasional Adonis Garcia.  

Yep, if the season ended today, we'd be facing the now 25-year-old Moncada, a rising star who hit 25 HRs last year while batting .315. But at least Hal saved some of his money.

But, but BUT... the season has a month left, plenty of time for the young and hungry Blue Jays to skate past us in the AL East. They are basically a carbon copy of Tampa - youngsters rising across the lineup - while we watch the calendar, check the rehab farm and wait for Judge, Hicks, Giancarlo, etc. - players who never play - to save this troubling season. 

We are the Herman Cain twitter feed of baseball. 

Last night, it became fundamentally clear that the Rays are simply a better team than what the injury-decimated Yankees put on the field. The last decade proved that baseball is a young man's game - players peak at 22-23 - not necessarily 27-28 - and you cannot buy a championship with veterans. Unless Gerrit Cole figures out how not to throw gopher balls, our "ace" is simply a place of the helpful hardware man. Over the next two weeks, we face Toronto (nine games) and Baltimore (eight.) There is plenty of time to cement a playoff spot... or blow it altogether. 

Some questions from last night...

Is Jordy Mercer, recently cast off by the lowly Tigers, really a better SS than Tyler Wade or Thairo Estrada? This weekend, Wade homered and seemed to wake up from his career-length batting slump. So why didn't he play last night? He's a LH batter, and they were facing a RH. Was a reason given? Did I miss something? Because the speedy Wade can still contribute to this team, and the 34-year-old Mercer just seems like a veteran passing through.

Is there a reason why we are babying Aroldis Chapman? He has pitched two innings this year, thrown a total of 45 pitches. He went 11 days between his first and second outings, then was immediately crushed by the Mets. He pitched an inning Sunday. He looks rusty. If he's only going to appear in save situations, we might not see him for a while. And without outings under his belt, how can we trust in him pressure situations?

Luke Voit limped slightly while rounding the bases last night, following his HR. Last year, he played with a hernia, and basically fell apart. He's the only thing we have going right now, offensively. What gives?