With a week to go, the Yankees are actually sitting in the catbird seat

At first glance, it looks as though Houston will win the home field advantage next week. After all, they play six tomato cans within their cupcake division, where they grew dominant by finishing last for a decade. Congrats are in order. HOO-rah, HOO-ston.

But now comes a final hurdle: They must win four of their last six - (the Yanks should win at least three out of five) - while resting their stud muffins. They can't afford a tweaked gonad. (From now on, every tweaked gonad is a broken bone.) Do they want Jose Altuve snapping his tootsie while legging out a nubber? Meanwhile, the Yankees - who have thrived all year on spare parts - actually have players who need the reps.

Here's a Death Star lineup of expendables and returning war horses, all of whom are competing for a shot at October. Damn, we're not in Scranton anymore. 

c: Gary Sanchez (needs action.)
1b: Edwin Encarnacion (needs action.)
2b: Thairo Estrada
ss: Didi Gregorius (needs to hit.)
3b: Tyler Wade
lf: Giancarlo Stanton (needs action.)
cf: Cameron Maybin (needs work in CF.)
rf: Clint Frazier
dh: Mike Ford 

This lineup could run the table. Not only that, it rests Aaron Judge, Brett Gardner, Gleyber Torres, Gio Urshela, D.J. LeMahiue and Luke Voit - all of whom can DH or pinch hit. I cannot recall a deeper Yankee roster entering the playoffs. 

Still, one challenge remains: Can the Yanks actually go five games without an injury? (Have they done it this year?) Encarnacion, Sanchez and Stanton head the list of returnable stock. Dare we imagine a Yankee lineup with everyone healthy - with Gardy batting ninth? Could the planets really line up? Would the tides rise globally? Would volcanoes erupt?

The Yankees play the Tampa Devil Rays twice. They face a team withered by stresses - 5-5 in their last 10 - from its existential reason to go on: Hating the Yankees. If we take just one game - one - behind Edwin, Gary and Gio, we will cripple them. If we sweep, we could put them on a half-season course to Montreal. Meanwhile, Houston cannot ease up. We have cards to play. We have players to play. This isn't a lost week. This could be fun.