Yankees watching playoff competition crumble as Tigers make stunning roster move

Us New York Yankees fans love to get in our feels and complain when things are bad. We can admit it gets toxic at times, but most reasonable fans acknowledge that there's valid criticism to go around, especially when we're talking about the most recognizable brand in the sport underachieving for as long as they have.

But it's always important to have some perspective, and Yankees fans received some on Sunday morning. The Detroit Tigers, who were once considered far and away the best team in the American League, are in the midst of what could be an historic collapse.

It just reached the point where they designated Charlie Morton for assignment. The veteran right-hander was one of their marquee acquisitions at the trade deadline as Tigers executive Scott Harris sought to build a deeper pitching staff to prepare for October.

Now, Morton isn't making it that far, and there's a reasonable chance the Tigers don't, either. What was once a 15.5-game lead in the AL Central back in July is now just a one-game advantage over the surging Cleveland Guardians. That's right, the Yankees could face the Guardians in the postseason.

Morton was slated to start against the Guardians this coming week, but Detroit had seen enough. The right-hander had a 7.09 ERA in his nine starts since joining the team (and after getting rocked by the Atlanta Braves on Friday night).

If the Tigers can't stop the bleeding, they could fall into the Wild Card picture or out of the playoffs entirely. They dropped to the No. 3 seed in the AL after the Seattle Mariners passed them on Saturday. And if the Guardians get their way, Detroit (85-70) then has to deal with the Yankees (87-68), Boston Red Sox (85-70) and Houston Astros (84-71) in the Wild Card picture. It's now officially a razor-thin margin.

Yankees fans are constantly frustrated with Brian Cashman's trade deadlines, which are typically underwhelming. But nothing beats what Harris did in July. He had arguably the best team in the league in the middle of July and didn't add a single impact talent. Morton, Kyle Finnegan, Chris Paddack, Codi Heuer, Randy Dobnak, Rafael Montero and Paul Sewald were imported to Detroit. So far, two of those guys are gone (Morton and Heuer), two have been injured (Finnegan and Sewald), one was demoted (Paddack, from rotation to bullpen), one hasn't made an appearance (Dobnak), and one has been solid (Montero).

Even when Cashman extends himself on the trade front, it tends not to work out as many expected. But at least we know we'd never see this level of malfeasance when the Yankees' front office is tasked with fortifying a contending roster.

Just like that, the Yankees look like the most stable contender at the moment, sitting two games back of the Blue Jays for the top spot in the AL East.