Status update: What does the second of the season hold?

The New York Yankees are at an unusual place in their history as they reach this year’s midseason. The organization is still transitioning from the Core Four era, but ever since the retirements of Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and finally Derek Jeter, the roster has been interchangeable. The team has tried to replace the players with different levels of success — which begs the questions who are the Yankees and what do they represent at this juncture?

It has not been the Yankee way to fashion a thorough rebuilding of the team from the ground up, since it doesn’t fit with the organization’s win at all costs every year mentality. But maybe now it’s time to throw out the Yankee rulebook and begin anew.

To replace Rivera, the organization employed Rafael Soriano (much to Brian Cashman’s chagrin), then David Robertson, then Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller, and most recently the Miller/Betances/Chapman deadly combination. The Yankees signed Brian McCann after the 2013 season, which also featured Tanaka, Ellsbury, and Beltran joining the organization. The following off-season the Yankees acquired Andrew Miller and Derek Jeter’s replacement, Didi Gregorious.

All of the aforementioned players have had different levels of success with the Yankees, but this observer believes it is time to undergo a full rebuild, instead of an on-the-fly-one. The 2016 Yankees are not good enough for a deep playoff run and unlike the George Steinbrenner-era, it seems the time may have come to sell off assets in order to better the long-term future of the franchise. This way the organization could surround Aaron Judge, Luis Severino, and Greg Bird with other talented assets. And maybe this could the path to anther dynasty era.

Regardless, change is needed.