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Over the next six weeks, the Yankees have to reintroduce their cleanup hitter, manage an overstuffed rotation and likely launch the careers of a couple of prized prospects.
How this all goes could factor in how far the Yankees go this season. But it also provides an intriguing preview of the future. So while the priority is October 2011, what occurs the rest of this year will impact decision making and the structure of future Yankees teams.
Here are the key actors and the issues:
ALEX RODRIGUEZ
Who is he now? How much of the declining power this year should be attributable to a damaged knee? Because he was threatening to have his OPS fall for a fourth straight year before he went on the disabled list in early July. He is due back this week. The Yankees know that at some point A-Rod’s record contract, which stretches to 2017, will be dead money on the payroll. But the 10-year deal is not even half over. Is he still good enough to carry a team down the stretch this year while promising middle-of-the-order heft for the foreseeable future?
ROBINSON CANO/CURTIS GRANDERSON
If Rodriguez is no longer a weightlifter, it is going to fall to Cano and Granderson, now and moving forward, to be the prime forces on this team — especially if Mark Teixeira remains a defensively capable Jason Giambi (low average, high power/RBI production). In 2009, when the Yankees won it all, Rodriguez was the alpha male, providing championship-caliber hits. Are Cano or Granderson capable of being the lead dog(s)? Because they not only are talented players in their prime, but both are controlled by the Yankees through 2013, so the organization is going to have to make decisions soon about if they can build around this duo long into the future.
NICK SWISHER
He switched agents from the collegial Joe Bick to the more high-powered Dan Lozano with an eye on making a Jayson Werth-like score in free agency. Then he went out and tanked the early portion of this season. But in his last 64 games heading into the weekend, Swisher was hitting .313 with a .959 OPS and 12 homers. That probably will delay his free agency for a year, because the Yankees will see it as cost effective to pick up his $10.25 million 2012 option rather than trying to find another right fielder.
Nevertheless, Swisher will have substantial pressure in the playoffs to prove he can perform in the crucible most important to the Yankees. His .162 postseason average is the second lowest in major league history for someone with 100 at-bats, and his .148 Yankees postseason average is the lowest in franchise history for someone with 75 at-bats.
CC SABATHIA
He almost certainly will opt out of his contract after this season. And he pretty much already has the Yankees in position to have to pay whatever he wants — unless his recent poor performances carry through to the end of the year. He technically has four years at $92 million left at the conclusion of his year, but he will ask to have that bumped up, probably to no less than his original contract with the Yankees, which was seven years at $161 million. The Yankees don’t want to do that, of course, especially with a big-bodied workhorse. But what choice will they have? The best available starter in free agency will be C.J. Wilson, and who knows if someone like Felix Hernandez will be on the trade block? The Yankees love Sabathia as a pitcher, person and leader, and the lefty could make it even tougher for them to say goodbye by serving as the ace on a championship team for the second time in three years.
A.J. BURNETT
Is he about to become the Yankees’ version of Oliver Perez? He has two years at $33 million due after this season, and he already
has pitched himself into a No. 5 starter and potentially off the postseason roster. General manager Brian Cashman is a strong public defender. But Cashman also was a strong public defender of Carl Pavano. Can he give any hope for the next two seasons?
PHIL HUGHES
A year ago he appeared a building block to future rotations. Now, at age 25, he needs to re-establish that he is even a quality major league pitcher. He has been bypassed on the Yankees depth chart by Ivan Nova, though the quick fall of Hughes should keep the Yankees circumspect about Nova moving forward, as well.
BARTOLO COLON/FREDDY GARCIA
Both had to essentially beg for work and money this year. But if they continue to pitch at a high level the rest of this year and into the playoffs, they can build their value to the Yankees and the rest of the sport. Garcia, in fact, currently projects to a Type-B free agent, so the Yankees probably will offer him arbitration. And joining Colon and Garcia is another group of loose-change Yankees — Eric Chavez, Andruw Jones, Luis Ayala and Cory Wade — who also could strengthen their standing to get jobs for 2012.
MARIANO RIVERA
He turns 42 in November and the only closer to have sustained brilliance at that age or beyond was a knuckleballer, Hoyt Wilhelm. Rivera has defied any conventional standards associated with his position up until now, so who knows how long he can keep going and going? But, if nothing else, this last week was a reminder that even the great Rivera is mortal. He is going to fade in effectiveness some day. The rest of the season will exhibit if we have reached the point in this program when his cutter has lost just enough verve and swerve to dominate. The Yankees have played with a certain mindset that has fed their confidence and success over the past 15 years — particularly in October — and differentiated the competition: Get a lead and get the ball to Mo. More than ever, you have to wonder: How does the team look if Rivera is not as close to a sure thing as existed in the sport?
RAFAEL SORIANO
Through ineffectiveness and injury, it was easy to believe Soriano simply would pick up his $11 million option for next year (and eventually the $12 million one for the year after) and stay the highest-paid setup man in history. Except he has come off the DL brilliantly, reminding how he saved an AL-high 45 games last year.
If he continues to excel down the stretch and in the playoffs, could his hankering to close lead him back to the market? Probably only if his powerful agent, Scott Boras, can assure more than the two years at $23 million Soriano still is owed if he stays with the Yankees. And in a marketplace that has pretty much collectively reduced the prices on closers (which is how Soriano ended up a Yankee in the first place) that might be difficult. But there is this scenario to keep in mind: If Rivera continues to falter, could Soriano threaten to leave in an attempt to get the Yankees to, say, tack another year onto his contract? It is highly unlikely because the organization hardly loves Soriano’s personality. But the Yankees already have gone against their principles to sign Soriano last offseason.
MANUEL BANUELOS/JESUS MONTERO
The Yankees’ top pitching and hitting prospect will be integrated onto the roster in time to exhibit if they can help in the playoffs — Banuelos as a lefty reliever and Montero as a DH/bat off the bench. But there also should be glimmers if either (or both) should be part of 2012 plans.
There has been internal speculation that both youngsters struggled at times this year because they were bored by the competition. It is not exactly a trait you want in prospects. This is their chance to show they are primetime. And Banuelos does get the opportunity to show if he has the stuff — in repertoire and makeup — to begin making inroads toward being a top-of-the-rotation starter. As for Montero, there has been a lot of doubt about his defense, but there has been no doubt about the projection he will hit at a high level. He might not get a lot of opportunities to catch. But he should show if he can, indeed, hit at a high level in the majors, which will go a long way to the Yankees tolerating his 2012 defense or building up his value to trade in the offseason.
joel.sherman@nypost.com