In the middle of a blow-out Yankee win, Buster Olney ponders Yankeeageddon.

So, lemme get this straight: 

Four years into The Abyss, the Death Barge will finally ponder the unponderable: 

Giancarlo Stanton playing the field. 

Dear god. It's true - maybe. According to Fox's Buster Olney last night, Giancarlo will soon play LF, where presumably he'll have to run after fly balls, rather than using his signature, Robby Cano-meets-Betty White, zombie apocalypse lope. Since the day Stanton arrived, the sense has been that any time he approaches high gear, something will snap, and he'll spend six weeks in the hot tub. Apparently, the bubble wrap no longer fits. It's an emergency, time to break glass.

Has Cooperstown Cashman finally seen The End? Aaron Judge is approaching free agency, and if the Yankees plan to keep him long term, they need a secondary slot at DH, to occasionally rest him. If Giancarlo is full-time DH through 2028, there is no room for Judge. Keeping both would be a colossal waste of time, talent and what Food Stamps Hal covets most - moolah, bread, ka-ching, globba, perdoochi... cabbazingos!   

Last night, Olney reported that opposing GMs are postulating that, if the Yankees fall apart in July, they will do the unthinkable: entertain trade offers for Judge, their biggest star, as Boston did with Mookie Betts. The Fox broadcast crew - including A-Rod - reacted as if Olney had just promised his soul to the maw of Satan. 

In fact, such an endgame has been on the minds of Yankee fans for months. 

As long as Stanton is the everyday DH - with no flexibility, whatsoever - there is no long term slot for Judge, who has his own tweaks and strains. They must either somehow jettison Stanton - and his Mariah Carey contract - or they might as well seek a package of prospects for Judge - because in this current jam-up, they're a fifth place team that finishes fourth only because the division includes Baltimore. 

One huge caveat: Trading Judge - and pressing a giant Reset Button - would require Cashman to admit that his strategy for the last four years has crashed and burned.  For the Yankees to save face - especially in a season when the Mets might win their division - Cashman would probably have to step down. Would he do it? Could he do the right thing? 

(I recognize that what I'm about to say is blaspheme here... but  over the years, I have come to be sorta fond of Cashman, and the rumba dance he must continually do to keep his job. Working for Hal must be far worse than it was for George. At least the old guy knew what he wanted. Cashman constantly chases conflicting objectives - to win, to sign big names, to keep the payroll down, etc.  If we think any GM can save this franchise, we're kidding ourselves.) 

Oh, one other thing: Last night, watching young Yankees hustle - what a joy!

There was Chris Gittens making two great catches down the RF foul line.

There was Greg Allen and Ryan LaMarre, running on Christian Vasquez, cracking open the Redsock defense in a way the savvied veterans never try.

There was Trey Amburgey crashing into the RF wall and - holy crap - Rougned Odor laying down a perfect drag bunt! Why doesn't he do this more often? The guy is hitting .224. Why not bunt every game, directly challenging the over-shift? What does he have to lose: He's hitting frickin' .224!  

So... now what? Two out of three ain't bad. Moreover, Boston suddenly doesn't look so destiny-bound. Still, the 2021 Yankees' signature move has been to win a few games, then give them back. A two-game streak means nothing, unless it leads to eight or 10.

Last night's victory cut Boston's division lead to 7 games. But that's a mirage.  Tampa leads us by six, and Toronto is heating up. The crossroads are here. We'll soon see something we hadn't anticipated: Giancarlo in the outfield. And if he can't cut it, Yankeeageddon!