As the Yankee season slips away, should we start pondering the vast changes that surely lie ahead?

Midway through last night's debacle - aka: the Barbarity in Baltimore - it became clear that John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman were suffering from P.T.S.D., along with acute lock-down depression. On every Yankee front, no matter how hard he sought to conjure a wisp of hope, The Master spake only more pain. 

Not long ago, 2020 had stacked up perfectly, boundlessly in potential, a Yankee lineup for the ages. Now, they were getting crushed by the no-name O's, formerly our patsies, and with our ace on the mound. 

"This is not what we expected," John said mournfully. Suzyn could only murmur her dark despair, as if reciting a promo for Cellino and Barnes. 

Comrades, this is now an official shit show. 

Baseball was supposed to lift us, to provide a diversion through the stay-at-home pandemic, after Netflix and Hulu had run out of tropes. Now, we need a diversion from this diversion, and watching the nightly wars in Portland, Kenosha and now Rochester won't cut it. It's time to start - gulp - thinking about next year, because 2020 is a rusted spike in the nail keg.

Some observations I'm sure you have already made...

Nothing personal here, but Gary Sanchez needs a new life in a new city with a new fan base and new coaches... a new number, a new bat, a new car, a new pet poodle, and maybe a new position - though I cannot think of one that works. The mere fact that we have him on contract through 2023 does not warrant keeping him as a tired, overwhelmed Yankee serf. He is a terrible defensive catcher and now among the game's worst, offensively. Last night, John noted that Sanchez has the most single season homers for any catcher in Yankee history, and he nearly lost his composure, reading the list of titans: Dickey, Berra, Howard, Munson, Posada... only to gulp silence over the reality of Gary's ship-wrecked career. It's really a tragedy, but Gary Sanchez must go. There is no plan B. 

Likewise, Giancarlo Stanton must be paid off, wished well and set free like a singing, top-hatted frog. Surely, some middle-market franchise with hedge fund money will take him, if we pay most of the movie money. He will be our Bobby Bonilla, cashing massive checks until Manhattan is six feet below the ocean. 

Last night, John occasionally drifted into our last, most idiotic, 2020 LSD delirium:  That Stanton and Aaron Judge magically return for the playoffs as superheroes, homering our path to the championship. Folks, take another pill. If he returns at all, Stanton will still be chasing curves in the dirt like Wile E. Coyote in an ACME rocket belt. The cavalry is not coming. And Stanton's era in Gotham needs to end.

Brett Gardner needs - damn, I hate to write this - he needs to retire. Look, we all love Gardy, and we want him as a part of our bullshit tradition, maybe a coach, maybe in the YES booth. But he has made the mistake of playing one season too many. If he returns in 2021, it will only worsen. The Yankees must not re-sign him.

Instead, they should try to keep DJ LeMahieu, though this won't be a cinch. LeMahieu is our best player, and the only Yankee who hits pitches where they are thrown, instead of swinging for the fences. (Maybe Clint Frazier does, too.) He will not come cheaply, and some desperate franchise might out-bid us. We need LeMahiue, but we cannot sustain another 10-year contract. He's 32. He won't be the same at 40.

I believe the Yankees this winter must clean house - starting with Cooperstown Cashman and rampaging rung-by-rung down the ladder. The franchise needs to devote its vast resources to pitching, to youth, and to contact hitters - not batters who simply try to hit home runs. Where does that leave Judge? I dunno. It depends on what we might get in return. He should be on the block. It's time to start pondering life after the pandemic. We need a change. This is not what we expected.