Dear The Yankees’ Front Office (in other words, anyone named Steinbrenner, Brian Cashman, Randy Levine, Lonn Trost, Damon Oppenheimer, Jean Afterman, Gary Denbo, and whoever the mystery group in Tampa is):

The time has come.

Yes, I know you’re above .500 right now. Good for you. It’s impressive, especially given your Pythagorean record, which indicates that you should be six games worse than you are.


Let’s be honest here: Your winning record right now is all smoke and mirrors. You’ve given up 28 more runs than you’ve scored, your starting rotation’s current health isn’t indicative of the norm, and most of your starting lineup is past its prime — a fact that’s obvious to anyone who watches your games. Two of the past three seasons have seen you finish out of the playoffs, having given up more runs than you scored. Last year’s ever-so-brief playoff appearance was an aberration. This year is much more like the previous two.

You won’t make it to the postseason this year without a strong stroke of good luck. With this roster, you won’t make it next year, either.


Your dynasty is over. And that’s okay.

Now it’s time to rebuild.

Luckily, you already have some good young prospects to begin your reconstruction:


* Rob Refsnyder has a solid bat that should continue to improve, and his power will come around. Also, while he’ll never likely win a Gold Glove, his ability to play multiple positions adequately will continue to benefit the team.

* Luis Severino scuttled this year, but such is the learning curve of the bigs. He still has multiple All-Star Games written all over him.


* Greg Bird impressed in the Bronx with his bat last year. Hopefully he should be fully recovered from shoulder surgery and good to go on Opening Day next year.

* Gary Sanchez has long been talked about as the next great Yankee catcher. While he’s no Yadier Molina, he knows enough to do the job, and his bat should keep him in the lineup.


* Aaron Judge has prodigious power and could very well man a corner-outfield spot until 2030.

* You received rave reviews for picking Blake Rutherford in the first round last month.


* Jorge Mateo has had some maturity issues recently. It happens — the Dominican shortstop is 21 and surely still adjusting to a different culture. He has a solid bat and can absolutely fly on the basepaths.

* James Kaprielian is likely out for the season with a strained elbow. That said, he’s a high-end talent and still could be a #2 starter in the future.


* Ian Clarkin has impressed in Tampa this year after coming back from an elbow injury.

* Finally, Bryan Mitchell should come back strong next year after his heartbreaking toe injury around the end of spring training.


So you have a solid minor-league system going on right now, which is refreshing given the dearth of talent and several poor draft classes in recent years.

That said, you can always improve, too. No prospect is ever truly can’t-miss (you drafted Brien Taylor, after all), and it’s completely possible that every single name listed above will fail to make a significant impact in the Bronx.


Thus, you should stockpile prospects by cleaning house.

Why A Wholesale Rebuild? Because It Works

The non-waiver trade deadline is in eight days, and you need to take advantage of this fact. Apparently you’re close to trading Aroldis Chapman, which is a good start. That said, why do you plan on keeping Andrew Miller? He’s not getting any younger — this is as valuable as he’ll likely ever be. Trade him!


In fact, try to trade everyone on your big-league roster, save for Masahiro Tanaka, Dellin Betances, and Refsnyder. Even consider trading Didi Gregorius, whose stock is likely at its peak right now. Take in as many prospects as you can.

That’s what the Cubs did a few years back, and it netted them Jake Arrieta, Anthony Rizzo, Addison Russell, Kyle Hendricks, Pedro Strop, and Travis Wood. Also, their lean years netted them high draft picks, which they spent on Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, and Kyle Schwarber.


The Astros did this, too, and they were able to stockpile prospects who they eventually traded for Carlos Gomez, Mike Fiers, Evan Gattis, and Ken Giles. Additionally, they parlayed their poor seasons into drafting Carlos Correa, George Springer, and Lance McCullers, Jr.

The Braves have taken this route as well, and everyone’s curious as to how their flat-out heist of the Diamondbacks will pay out.


Need I mention the Royals?

Open Your Wallets As Well!

And here’s the thing: you’re the Yankees! You make more money than any other baseball team in America, and it’s not even close.


What you should do is, try and trade your bigger contracts as well (or at least the players other teams could use — sorry A-Rod and Mark Teixeira), and offer to pay significant amounts to each team to offset the costs of the contracts.

Signing Jacoby Ellsbury to an $153-million contract through 2020 (with a buyout of $5 million for 2011) does not look wise, especially given his mediocre performance over that time. However, if the Yankees can pay, say, $80 million of the rest of the contract, staggered so that you can pay in annual installments, someone may have interest, and you could possibly net a prospect or two, and/or possibly even international bonus pool money, in return.


The same idea goes for CC Sabathia, Brian McCann, Brett Gardner, Chase Headley, Carlos Beltran, and Miller. You’re drowning in money, and you have players who simply won’t win you a championship. Swallow your pride, Hank and Hal, pay other teams to take them, and get some youngsters. They likely won’t be blue-chip prospects, but they’ll be a collective step in the right direction.

Also, I mentioned Beltran and Miller. Really, there’s no excuse not to trade them, especially Beltran. He’s hitting the ball like the Beltran of old, he’s a free agent in four months, and again, you’re not going to win this year. I’ll bet good money that you finish fourth in the AL East. The Blue Jays, Orioles, and Red Sox are simply better than you. It happens. Thus, trade Beltran. Miller too.


In terms of Miller, everyone realizes what happened when the Royals built their super-bullpen. Relief arms have never been more valuable. This helps increase Miller’s value. Maximize that while you can.

No Shame In Rebuilding

Every team finds themselves in your position at some point, or at least very similar. You’ve been lucky in that you’ve finished with a winning record for 23 straight seasons, so you haven’t had to worry about it. That said, you’ve been stagnant for the past four years or so. The days of the Core Four are over.


There’s no shame in having to rebuild. Free agency is different than it was in your glory days; most teams lock their best players into lucrative-yet-team-friendly contracts early in their careers. Thus, it becomes even more important to parlay what you have into building a better future.

Plus, speaking of free agency, we all know your end game here: You want Bryce Harper. You’ll have the money, however much it is, you have the ideal ballpark for Harper’s swing, and he wants to play in the Bronx as well. None of this is a secret. If anything, this seems like a foregone conclusion.


Thus, start the rebuild so that you have a good young team when you sign Harper after the 2018 season. That means getting the older bodies off the roster, no matter how painful it is now, no matter how financially creative you have to get, and adding prospects, high draft slots, and high international bonus pool allocations.

What you have now is no great dynasty. If you want the next dynasty to begin, start building it now.


Sincerely,

Josh

PS: Have any questions? Comments? Criticisms? Jokes? Please post below!

Josh Murphy has been a lifelong Yankee fan because his dad broke his leg as a kid. It’s a long story. Seeing the Yankees rebuild would be strange for him, but the process would be fascinating, too.