Klapisch: Why the Yankees are still such a mystery

With the All-Star break just around the corner, you’d have to say it’s been a remarkable ride for the Yankees, even though they continue to morph from week to week. What started as an audition for 2018 turned into a too-good-to-be-true sprint through April and May, followed by regression, injuries and an excruciating loss to the White Sox Tuesday night. And yet, the Bombers are still hanging around first place in the East.

So who are they really? Depends on which prism you choose. The fact that the Yankees recently lost 10-of-12 and suffered no real damage in the standings could be good news – proof that no one in the division is likely to run away. Then again, Dellin Betances' blown save, leading to the 4-3 loss to Chicago, wasn't easy for the Yankees to process. The ninth inning has been an overall strength of their bullpen this season.

Betances will bounce back, though. And the fact that Tyler Clippard semi-survived a bases-loaded, none-out jam in the eighth might've rescued his career in Pinstripes. There are instead other chronic issues that could dog the Bombers for the rest of the summer, notably Michael Pineda’s random, unpredictable (and unpreventable)  meltdowns.  

The right-hander has been driving the organization crazy forever - or just long enough to believe the Yankees could let him walk as a free agent this winter. If so, would Brian Cashman dare to move Pineda at the trade deadline, knowing he won’t be back in 2018, as part of a bigger overhaul of the pitching staff?

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Cashman won’t touch the question, of course. He still has a month to decide if the Yankees should be in go-for-it mode down the stretch - which would mean a major trade - or to quietly revert to the opening day business plan and use 2017 solely to build equity.

But one major league executive said the other day the Yankees would be “crazy” to pass up a chance to win it all this year. “If they end up being passive (at the trade deadline), they’ll have wasted a great opportunity in the division,” he said.

But who’s going to catalyze the Yankees to re-discover that extra gear? Who’s going to out-pitch Chris Sale in a telltale series at Fenway after the break? Masahiro Tanaka? Maybe. It depends on the alignment of the cosmos on any particular day. Or possibly Luis Severino, who struck out 12 in seven innings on Tuesday, and is moving up the depth chart. Fast.

But the uncertainty surrounding Pineda represents a black hole in the Yankees' rotation. It tells you something that the Yankees are longing for CC Sabathia’s return from the DL, despite his age (36) and an injury that tends to linger (torn hamstring). Cashman is wise enough to know the Bombers need one more starter to clone Pineda’s first 10 starts, when he was 6-2 with a 3.32 ERA.

Since then, in his last five starts, Pineda is 1-2 with a 5.85 ERA. No wonder the Yankees are monitoring the A’s Sonny Gray and the Pirates’ Gerrit Cole. On Tuesday night, Cashman got a real-time scouting report on Jose Quintana, who shut the Yankees out for 6.1 innings.  Whatever path Cashman chooses, the need for one more reliable pitcher down the stretch is just as important as a run-producing first baseman. Lucas Duda is a possibility.

The wild card here, of course, are the Red Sox, who were good enough to catch the Yankees but have yet to display the scorched-earth firepower that was supposed to send them to the World Series. The Sox didn’t foresee David Price and Rick Porcello struggling in lock step. As one GM said, “They’re throwing Doug Fister out there – and he couldn’t even hook on with the Angels. Tells you plenty.”

As always, time will act as the jury in the East, especially as the Yankees look to resolve their most pressing dilemmas: what to do with Pineda, how much to expect from Tanaka, waiting on Greg Bird and Sabathia to get healthy, and hoping Tyler Wade can tide things over while Starlin Castro heals, too.

It’s an uncertain forecast, although not lacking in drama. Our hunch is that the Yankees will still be in an in old-school pennant race by late September.

Mets promote Tim Tebow

Why does our Spidey sense say Tebow will end up at Citi Field by mid-September? Because it’s the Mets, why else? With the likelihood of being out of the race long before and, with it, the prospect of dwindling attendance, what better way to lure fans back to Flushing than by hosting a circus?

There’d be no other description. Tebow in Flushing would be a gruesome mistake but otherwise impossible to ignore. And that’s what the Wilpon family would be counting on – fans overlooking how overmatched Tebow would be in exchange for a glimpse of his fierce competitive drive, friendly personality and obvious willingness to pursue baseball at all costs.

It’s a nice story, but make no mistake: The relationship between Tebow and the Mets is all about marketing and selling tickets. The organization had no business promoting him from the low-level Class-A ball to the higher-level Class-A affiliate in St. Lucie. Tebow was batting just .222 with a .648 OPS against the youngest and least polished prospects in the Mets’ farm system, so what makes them think he’ll do any better against more skilled competition now?

And if Tebow thinks it was a struggle against Class-A pitching, wait until he gets to Class AA. That’s where many observers believe he’ll be wiped out altogether. But don’t be surprised if we continue to hear Mets executives praise Tebow’s “on-base percentage, his isolated power and exit velocity” as Sandy Alderson said the other day. It means Tebow looks good when he squares up on the ball. Not that it happens often enough.

Just remember, this is a franchise owned by the Wilpon family. Nothing is impossible, especially if attendance is sagging by late summer and the need for revenue becomes critical.

Former Mets hurler Anthony Young passes away

Club historians will remember AY, as he was known, for losing 27 consecutive decisions between May 1992 and July 1993. But fans and reporters knew Young as a friendly, out-going, unassuming man who never took himself – or that losing streak – too seriously.

Young died Tuesday from an inoperable brain tumor, according to the club. He will be missed.