Midway Through

The Yankees won last night, so I can say this without being accused of simply reacting to one more frustrating loss:

Brian Cashman should be selling off players like old stereo components right now. Have a yard sale. Okay, wait until the end of the month when the haul should be better, but make sure you don't delude yourself into believing this team has a chance and trying to find the next Brandon McCarthy.

This Yankee team is going nowhere and is determined to make that obvious. Every touch of the .500 mark is followed by a minimum of two losses, followed by an encouraging start from one of the pitchers which teases us into believing this is anything but a mediocre team. It's a mediocre team, folks. Cope with it.

Not that it can't be a good team--maybe a very good team--in a year or two. But steps need to be taken. And understand when I make the following statements that I am not well versed in the farm systems of all, or even a few, Major League teams.

So who should stay and who should go?

It's easy to say trade Mark Teixeira away. He's hitting abominably, at least until three days ago. He gets hurt every time somebody looks at him funny. He's going to be a free agent anyway. Why not see what you can get for him?

That's the problem. With a broken-down veteran whose best days are clearly behind him, who isn't playing well this year and who is prone to injury and will be gone in November, the return will be at best okay, and that's probably optimistic. So Tex might have to stay.

Same for Mr. Rod. You couldn't move that contract with a truckload of dynamite. Even the Yankees are platooning him now and you know the next wave of unhinged behavior is maybe a couple of weeks away at best. He can't go anywhere and nobody is happy about that.

Carlos Beltran is the Yankees' best hitter this year. He is the only non-pitcher from the Bronx headed to the All-Star Game. He is reaching the end of his contract and has been nothing but a model citizen since arriving at Yankee Stadium.

He needs to go.

Rob Refsnyder's bat needs a position in the field and the place where he'll probably do the least damage defensively is right field. Yes, he's the current first baseman when Tex is hurt (probably in August) or resting. But he's never going to be a defensive gem there, and with any luck at all Aaron Judge will be looming fairly soon if not next spring. Give Refsnyder the reps in the outfield now.

Aroldis Chapman, when he's been allowed to play baseball, has been very good. Yes, he likes to make saves dramatic by allowing some baserunners, but he's been almost perfect in save opportunities and puts on a nice show on the radar gun. He'll be a free agent after the season.

A prime candidate to cut loose.

Teams are going to want Andrew Miller, who has two more years on his contract and has been really good. They're going to want him to close games for them, which he can do extremely well. I'm in the minority here, but I'd rather see the Yankees unload Chapman for a lesser haul of prospects than jettison Miller. I'm not sure Dellin Betances can close consistently and Miller has proven he can. Chapman's even the sexier name because of the 104-mph fastball. Try to keep Miller.

Personally, I'd trade Starlin Castro if I could. He's been okay at second base and his bat has been good on and off, but Refsnyder can play there when Judge comes up and he'll hit for average better than Castro. Didi Gregorius is a good shortstop who can play until Jorge Mateo is ready for the bigs. I think Castro can bring in some decent prospects and lower the payroll, although his money is not outrageous.

Unfortunately Jacoby Ellsbury's contract is unmovable. But Brett Gardner's isn't. Is it time to see what we can get for Gardner before his habitual second-half issues kick in? Maybe. He's solid in the field with a good arm, and streaky at the plate. When he's going well he can be a real asset, but his bad streaks are lasting longer.

Nobody's taking Chase Headley's contract, either, and since the Yankees don't have a really strong third base prospect at the moment, another year or two of him isn't the worst thing. I wouldn't have signed him to begin with, but oddly nobody consulted with me on that.

But Brian McCann is a fascinating idea. A power-hitting catcher whose defensive skills are well above average and whose handling of a pitching staff is really good? He can get you something. With Gary Sanchez getting ready for the bigs and Austin Romine showing he can do much of the job on a regular base, this could be the sell-high moment for McCann.

Among starting pitchers, the only really marketable specimen is Masahiro Tanaka, and he's not going anywhere. His contract is too big and he's young enough to be a reliable starter for some time. He has an opt-out clause after next season so some teams might be skittish anyway. The best candidate at the moment is the streaky Michael Pineda. What can he fetch? Probably not enough to justify sending away a fairly cheap starter with his stuff. I don't think any starter other than Ivan Nova is being discussed and I'm not sure who's going to want him.

If I were Brian Cashman--which I'm clearly not--this Yankee team would look a lot different in August. Will it? Probably not. But the 2018 Yankees? Them I can get excited about.