3 Yankees players who’ll be gone by the All-Star break

1. Jay Bruce

Remember when we were all crossing our fingers and hoping for, say, 10 homers from Jay Bruce in a month and a half without Luke Voit before he got out of the lineup?

Remember when carrying five left fielders on the Opening Day roster and then spreading them across the field at other positions felt viable?

Remember when we all downplayed Voit’s absence, claiming the Yankees could survive the interstitial time easily?

After 12 games of Bruce, this all seems laughable in hindsight.

We won’t mince words. There’s no role for Bruce on this team when Voit returns, with Mike Ford and Chris Gittens now serving as higher-upside options at the Triple-A level. Nothing — nothing — has aged worse than the discourse that the Yankees should consider trading Mike Tauchman to make sure they didn’t let Bruce get away.

When the veteran was installed in the Opening Day lineup, the only options here were that he’d put on the pinstripes and embody “Yankee Magic” temporarily to rediscover his youth, or he’d flatline spectacularly.

Outside of a few surprisingly adept defensive plays in the first two series of the year, Bruce has seemed out of his element at first base, though, and rightfully so! We don’t see any way he lasts past the All-Star break, unless he retires and signs on as bench coach.

Yankees: Rookie pitchers NYY gave away for free dominated Sunday

Two rookie pitchers the New York Yankees absolutely gave away for free -- Taylor Widener and Garrett Whitlock -- dominated Sunday.