We knew this would happen, and now it is here

Nobody accuses us of being Yankee Pollyannas - (Yankyannas.) Generally, this site skews towards Mr. Little, (not the ex-Boston manager Grady, but the soothsayer, Chicken.) And clearly, the 2017 team is entering its hour of darkness. 

We have lost three straight, our hitters are slumping, and our sweat-bag of a closer cannot even get three outs. Nevertheless, late last night, the commentator known affectionately as All-Caps Anonymous left this note, which I believe needs to be pondered.

LETS STEP BACK AND REVIEW....
BOSTON LOST
BALTIMORE LOST
METS LOST

WE ARE 9 GAMES OVER .500 AFTER TONIGHT'S LOSS, AND A HALF GAME OUT.
IT'S DEREK JETER WEEK.
JUDGE GOT 2 HITS TONIGHT
MONTGOMERY WASN'T THAT BAD

I'LL TAKE IT.

Right on, bro! If last Christmas Eve, Satan offered me nine above .500 in mid-May, I'd have signed the parchment, blood and all. We've been spoiled by this team's early success, and we had to know a downturn was coming. If anything, my concern has been the Evils will catch wild card fever and jettison the youth movement that brought all these good vibes.

It is the old guys who are crumbling, and I'm still down with trading them in July, if the roof is leaking. Last night, even though we lost to a HR by Brian McCann - (which, by the way, we always knew would happen, right? All traded Yankees return to beat us at least once) - I'd still deal him for the Astro prospects (and the better of the two, Abreu, has arm issues.) For me, the key is that we chase division titles - not a one-game punch ticket. In my perfect world, each December we sign Aroldis Chapman to a one-year and each July we trade him for a package of Gleybers and Clints. (Wait... is there a chance we can do that with Matt Holliday?) 

Let's look at the worst case scenario: Everything falls apart. Come July, will it be wise to keep Pineda, Sabathia and Tanaka - all in contract years - even though under the new union deal, we won't score one measly first-round pick for any of them? Here's an even worse picture: We're stuck around .500, trading for three-month rentals and returning to the wild card continuum, which means going nowhere.

This team can solve its problems without trading prospects.

1. Greg Bird must return, and Chris Carter needs to disappear, like an X-Files UFO. We signed the guy as insurance, in case Bird hits headwinds. Well, Bird has hit headwinds, and Carter is showing why all of baseball ignored his free agency. He's at the John Mayberry point: You almost prefer he strikes out and, thus, hastens his exit - rather than he hits a HR and extends the misery another month. I have not given up on Bird. I have completely given up on Carter.

2. Unless he shows a resurgence, replace CC Sabathia with a young arm. Today, with Chance Adams promoted to Scranton, the Railriders have seven starting pitchers. Seven. Jeez, somebody has to be MLB-ready. I don't know what we do with CC, but we do not need to trade for some team's Brett Anderson. 

3. Either Brett Gardner or Jacoby Ellsbury should go. Nothing personal, but they are clones, basically the same exact players, and Aaron Hicks is better. Fourth outfielder? Mason Williams can do it. Or, gulp, Rob Refsnyder. Clint Frazier homered last night, his fifth. If he goes on a tear, obviously Gardner or Ellsbury have to go. 

4. Gary Sanchez must start hitting. I don't think Girardi did him any favors by batting him second. (Especially since we've found that Sanchez is a terrible base-runner.) By centering him in the lineup, we heaped pressure on him. He started slowly; then came the injury. Frankly, we've received more production from Austin Romine. But nobody's giving up.

El Chapo? I don't know what to do about him, other than maybe flip-flop the eighth and ninth with Betances. But we are nine games above .500, and none of this success was ever going to be real until we survived our first slump. Well, folks, we're here. Soon, we'll see what this team really is. Either way, we're better off than on any mid-May in recent memory. Caps is right: I'll take it!