With Yamamoto off the table, the Yankees must now spread around the $300 million they were ready to spend

In recent years, one of my fave new words is "Frankenstein" - the verb - which means to assemble something with spare parts and a jolt of electricity, knowing that, in the end, will rise up and strangle you. 

Which brings me to the '24 Yankees, with a pitching staff to be Frankensteined over the next eight weeks with scrap heap signings, salary dumps, an overpriced free agent and copious amounts of YES team hype. 

This comes as the franchise seeks to recover from its stunning recent slap-down by Yoshi Yamamoto, plus the revelation that the Yankees' era as MLB's biggest fish has ended.  The franchise will remain among the spending leaders, but it won't be top dog, not even in NYC. That ship has sailed, folks. The Yankees will be No. 2 in Gotham, with or without a workable Frankenstein.   

With Yamamoto gone, Hal Steinbrenner has few options beyond overpaying for the free agents still out there. The Yankees could float a trade by bundling Oswald Perazza, a catcher and/or one of their few remaining prospects. This might bring a No. 4 starter, a bloated salary, a declining veteran or somebody recovering from a major tweak. Any trade is a roll of the dice. And the more that the Yankees deal young prospects, the more likely it becomes that they make a generational mistake and trade a future star. 

Honestly, the prize tag for Yamamoto was flat-out amazing. We can say the Dodgers have ridiculously overpaid, those Hollywood happy fools. But now comes the part where everybody else follows suit. There's a new normal, and it means no cheap pitchers.    

So, what should we expect? Here's a basic outline of what might happen. 

Over the next eight weeks, the Yankees will... 

1. Sign a veteran starter. It could be Frankie Montas, or somebody like him - recovering from surgery, trying to prove himself with a one-year deal. We'd like it to be Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery, but the costs will make Hal flinch. (Also, we can all imagine Boston bidding up Montgomery, pleasing their fans by jabbing us in the eye.)  

2. Sign an international free agent. No names here. They're too hard to spell anyway. He'll come from Japan, Korea or Cuba, and probably work in our bullpen. But I think Hal will bite on this. There are more future Yamamotos in the pipeline, and the Yankees don't want to be the lone big market team without an Asian star.  

3. Sign one more hitter, an infielder. Matt Chapman, maybe? He's 30, a solid glove and conjures imagines of previous slugging 3B. (Graig Nettles, Scott Brosius.) Unfortunately, he hits RH. The Yankees have DJ LeMahieu, whose greatest value comes as an all-purpose infielder. If they trade Peraza, they could need a 3B. Wait... is Josh Donaldson available?

The Yankees were willing to spend $300 million on Yamamoto. They better be willing to spend as much on his Frankensteinian replacements.