Joel Sherman

Joel Sherman

MLB

Yanks need veterans to Spur them on, too

Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili just contributed to a championship in their twilight. They could not offer what they once did — which was Hall of Fame-caliber play — for as long as they once did.

But Duncan, 38, and Ginobili, 36, could still provide plenty to winning, conjure enough of their past, often enough to be vital co-stars to a title.

This should be the path for the Yankees fading stars. For Derek Jeter and Alfonso Soriano, for Carlos Beltran and Hiroki Kuroda, for Mark Teixeira and Brian Roberts, and for CC Sabathia, assuming he can make it all the way back for the stretch run.

To stretch the analogy a little further, the Yankees need for Masahiro Tanaka, Jacoby Ellsbury, Brett Gardner, David Robertson and — they hope at some point real soon — Brian McCann to be their prime-age Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker. They have gotten Boris Diaw/Patty Mills-like surprises from Adam Warren, Dellin Betances, Chase Whitley and Yangervis Solarte.

But the Yanks simply are not going to get where they want — top of the AL East and beyond — without their older players being able co-stars, duplicating Duncan and Ginobili by using their abundant will and knowledge to maximize what skills linger.

Joe Girardi — like Gregg Popovich — is good about finding rest for this group, trying to see the big picture of a full season. Now, it is a matter of whether there is enough left in these tanks to be more than just famous names.

For now, the Yankees have continued in a holding-on narrative — not good enough to assure that they are a no-questions contender, not bad enough to fall out of it. On Tuesday night against Toronto, they began a five-series run exclusively against the AL East with two series against the first-place Blue Jays.

It may not be the definition of make or break. Nevertheless, the Yankees clearly have reached a critical juncture that will take them into July and possibly clarify whether they are buyers, sellers or continuing to run in neutral. It is a moment for the perspective and calm of seen-it-all veterans. But also for whatever enduring excellence they possess.

Teixeira, 34, and Ichiro Suzuki, 40, have done the best so far at honoring their past. Teixeira, despite missing 20 games with a variety of ailments, had four more homers than any Yankee entering Tuesday night. Suzuki was hitting 38 points higher than any regularly used Yankee.

Until his last outing, Kuroda, 39, had been on a strong eight-start run that made the concern of his April awfulness wane.

Jeter, 40, the most Duncan-esque of the Yankees (right down to his five rings), ended the last road trip positively. Now, like Duncan who has transformed from 23-point, 14-rebound player to a still-meaningful 17-8 player, can Jeter move from .300-plus to a still-consequential .275? Can the streaky Soriano, 38, find one of those power stretches like he had after being obtained by the Yanks last season? Can Roberts, 36, do more with what has been surprisingly good health?

Sabathia, 33, is throwing off a mound with no pain as he tries to return from knee surgery. He acknowledges, though, he pretty much needs to redo spring training. The tradeoff here for the Diaw body-double is to take his time, make sure he is fully healthy and be good for 12 stretch starts. Is that still possible for him?

But the most vital pieces feel like Beltran, 37, touching his past and McCann, 30, rediscovering his present. The Yankees splurged in the offseason, hoping to rediscover their Bronx Bomber ways, investing once again in the pedigree of lefty power in the hopes of making the Stadium a torture chamber for visiting pitchers.

The Yanks, though, were just 16-19 at home, and their lack of Ruth-ian DNA is most responsible. As Teixeira said, “We absolutely have to hit more homers. At this park, you have to score and we just are not scoring enough. If we don’t believe we are going to do that, we might as well pick up and go home because winning will be very hard unless at some point we drive balls and score runs.”

Teixeira needs to stay healthy, and Beltran and McCann need to join him in peppering the short right-field porch. No AL team has played fewer home games than the Yankees, which means none has more left. Thus, the Yanks must find their inner power here.

Thus, they are desperate for Beltran and McCann to plug into that power, for Beltran to find his Ginobli, McCann his Parker, and for them to spur the Yankees to better results.