In a season of Yankee disappointments, the greatest insults may be yet to come

All season, we feared the moment when Gerrit Cole finally became a true Yankee... that is, when he got hurt. 

He'd face a tweak, a strain, a tear, a sprain - something would pop - and he would march solemnly to the dugout, not to return.

Last night, amid the Stepford horror of yet another listless defeat, it happened: Cole called out the coaching entourage and abruptly disappeared, along with - perhaps - any real Yankee hopes for this wretched, hellhole of a season. (Aside from 2004, have we ever suffered more at the nepotistic hands of this lost franchise?) 

Cole had become our One Great Hope: He'd win the Wild Card and propel us into the Divisional Round, a five-game series where, well, anything could happen. Now, we face a new reality, a new set of insults to the fans:

1. The Yankees routinely lie to us about injuries. They dismiss the problem, claiming the player will barely miss a game. Then, a week later, he hits the IL. Today, they say Cole might not miss a start. Does anybody believe this slop? Whatever they say, it's just rancid spin, which is what Yankee management does best.

2. If Cole misses two starts, he will then experience the traditional Yankee re-entry slump, which it seems every player endures. Currently, we are suffering through the returns of Gio Urshela, Gleyber Torres and Corey Kluber. (It's getting hard to differentiate between slumps and "normalcy" for Luke Voit. )

3. As the race tightens, the Yankees may lose the flexibility of Cole pitching the Wild Card game. He might have to win the season finale, just to get us there. Thus, the Wild Card could a bullpen game - which feels like a looming disaster. (And, of course, we wonder not just who starts the game, but who finishes it?)  

4. With Cole gone, our top starter might be - gulp - Nestor Cortez. It's been a joy to watch Nasty Nestor rise in the ranks, but when will the music stop? And tonight, they're doing exactly what they vowed not to do: They're injecting Luis Gil into a pressurized pennant race. Didn't they send him to Scranton to avoid such stresses?

5. If the Yankees blow this series - (and who here expects them to win the next two?) - booing at home will become a factor. Certainly, some players deserve it. But it's Yankee management that designed this team, and which then traded an arsenal of talent in an attempt to salvage it. 

The Yankee propaganda mills claim we kept our best prospects, so nothing was lost in the trade deadline makeover. They expect us to believe that the other teams are stupid, that they have no scouts, that they were outsmarted by the wily Yankee front office. In a season of insult, that may just be the biggest of them all.