As their competitors bolster themselves, the Yankees wait, and the stakes continue to grow

Today, all we can say about the once-mighty NY Yankees is that nothing has changed, and - right now, anyway - that's scary.

Today, our front office is expected to send a formal proposal to pitcher Carlos Rodon. Excuse me, if I thought this had happened: I haven't signed a 10-figure superstar since we changed plumbers, so I'm slow on the protocols. The formal contract bans things like brown M&Ms and Mariah Carey - and a set of zeros that San Diego or Philly - (or, gulp, the Cohen/Steinbrennerian Mets) - might beat. 

Until Rodon is signed, he is just another player the Yankees almost signed. It's a long list. Today, here's where we stand: 

1. They have lost Jameson Tailion, Zach Britton and Aroldis Chapman. Britton missed 2022, and nobody will miss el Chapo, who morphed, Kanye-like, into a headcase and distraction. But Tailion was a serviceable No. 4, and Cooperstown Cashman traded nearly all our best young starters last August. If we whiff on Rodon, it means Cash must trade for a starter: In his career, starters have been his personal white whale. If we're expecting Cashman to save the rotation, well, let me choose my words carefully: WE ARE FUCKED.

2. They remain basically the same team that went 35-35 in the second half, that suffered one of the most painful Augusts since Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon, and then was swept away - 4 to 0, the full Ryan McBroom, Fort Myers in front of Hurricane Ian - by our bullying arch-rival, the ever-cheating Astros. It's hard to see how the same team - a larded, aging collection of salary dumps - improves from another year on the clock. 

3. They are watching rest of baseball whiz by in the truck lane. The Mets and Phillies look like the Great Rivalry of the Twenties - what Redsocks/Yanks once was. The AL East could be a minefield. Believe it or not, the O's look like an ascending team, Boston quietly reloaded with that OF from Japan, Tampa is Tampa, Toronto has Lil Vlad, the Yankee-hater - and we keep waiting on players - Estevan Florial, Oswald Peraza, et al - who, when they finally arrive, don't warrant a looksee. 

Well, that's today. Tomorrow, we might have Rodon, which would mean an improved rotation, (though the bullpen needs help.) The Yankees must still figure out left field, a place that seems cursed. For three years, we waited on Clint Frazier, who was such a letdown that he literally changed his name. Last year, it was Aaron Hicks, who hit  .218, and the ridiculously horrible Joey Gallo, who batted .159. We went through Benintendi, Locastro, Andujar - it was like the lineup of summer replacements for Jimmy Kimmel- and in the end, we turned to  Oswaldo Cabrera, who had never even played the position before. I mean - and I am choosing my words carefully here: WHAT. THE. FUCK. 

Listen: We can still right this ship. It means signing Rodon. And if we miss out, baton the hatches, because the sirens will start blaring.