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The New York Yankees swept the Toronto Blue Jays over the weekend. It was a much-needed bit of good news in what has mostly been a late-season collapse for New York.On June 29 Mike Piazza Jersey , the Yankees were 53-26 and tied with the Boston Red Sox for first place in the American League East. Since then, they've gone 25-20 and entered play Monday in second place, 9.5 games behind Boston.New York opened August with five consecutive losses, four of them to the Red Sox. Not only were the Yankees getting buried in the division, but it was possible they'd whiff on one of the AL's wild-card spots.Those fears were allayed, at least temporarily, by the sweep of Toronto. The Yanks own the top wild-card position. A return to the playoffs is probable, if not assured.Still, this is not the outcome New York was hoping for after marching to Game 7 of the American League Championship Series in 2017 and shooting out of the gate in 2018 as a power-hitting juggernaut.Even if the Yanks squeeze into the postseason, will their late-season swoon prompt a massive spending spree this winter to assure they're a true powerhouse rather than a mere contender?This much is undeniable: The Yankees have major questions marks.Frank Franklin II/Associated PressKey young stars (or hopeful stars) such as outfielder Clint Frazier, first baseman Greg Bird and catcher Gary Sanchez have been hit by injuries and beset by underperformance. Outfielder Aaron Judge is sidelined by a fractured wrist that has taken longer to heal than initially expected. Shortstop Didi Gregorius is dealing with a bruised heel.The starting rotation is an even bigger concern. After looking like a Cy Young Award contender early in the year, ace Luis Severino has posted a 6.58 ERA in July and a 5.40 ERA in August. Veteran left-hander CC Sabathia's body appears to be breaking down. Left-hander Jordan Montgomery is on the shelf after undergoing Tommy John surgery.Add it up, and the Yankees have a roster begging for upgrades all over.Prior to the 2009 season http://www.dodgersfanproshop.com/authentic-andre-ethier-jersey , New York spent nearly $425 million to add Sabathia, right-hander A.J. Burnett and first baseman Mark Teixeira.Those contracts were burdensome, especially on the back end, but the Yanks went on to win the World Series in 2009.Could they follow a similar formula in this winter's rich free-agent class, when prizes such as outfielder Bryce Harper and infielder Manny Machado will be ripe for the picking?The Yankees managed to stay under the luxury-tax threshold even after adding salary at the trade deadline, as Mike AxisaofRiver Ave Blues outlined. And the luxury-tax cutoffwill rise from $195 million in 2018 to $197 million next season and $210 million by 2021.If the Yanks brass wants to spend big, it can.Rob Carr/Getty ImagesIt could hinge on how 2018 plays out. Maybe New York gets some injured players back, Severino rediscovers his ace-like form, the stars align and the Bronx Bombers go on a deep run.But if Boston runs away with the division and the Yankees' flaws doom them to an early October exit, the temptation to throw dollars around will be tantalizing.Grab Harper or Machado and toss in Patrick Corbin, who's averaging 11 strikeouts per nine innings with a 3.18 ERA for the Arizona Diamondbacks.Or heck, go huge and get Harper and Machado and figure out where to put them later. Pair them with Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. Watch opposing pitchers melt in their cleats.That would likely represent an outlay of $700 million or more. It might be something of a pipe dream.But these are the Yankees, with 27 titles and a well-deserved Evil Empire history at their back. Anything is possible."I don't like our position Chase Utley Jersey ," Yankees general manager Bryan Cashman said in late July, per Dan Martin of the New York Post. "I want to be where they are.""They" being the Red Sox. The archrivals. The measuring stick.Cashman deserves credit for rebuilding New York's farm system and adding bushels of burgeoning talent in recent years. A lot of that talent has blossomed and provided the franchise with a strong foundation. Now, it may be time to pull the trigger on an old-fashioned spending spree.In other words, it may be time for the Yankees to be the Yankees鈥攔isk and perception be damned.All statistics and standings current entering Monday and courtesy of Baseball Reference. HOUSTON (AP) — Mariners manager Scott Servais loves how his team is hitting lately. He only wishes this offensive outburst had come earlier in the season.Robinson Cano drove in three runs, three players homered and seven pitchers combined for a five-hitter in Seattle’s 9-0 rout of the Houston Astros on Wednesday night.“The frustrating thing going through the struggles we did in August and early September was you know it’s in there,” Servais said. “It wasn’t consistently there and showing up, and the lineup just wasn’t flowing. Just up and down the lineup, the quality of at-bats have been there this road trip.”The Mariners took two of three in this series from Houston, which saw its AL West lead over the Oakland Athletics shrink to four games when the A’s beat the Angels 10-0.Seattle has outscored its opponents 35-19 in the last seven games, winning five.Rookie Matt Festa made his first career start on a bullpen day for the Mariners and threw a perfect first inning before Casey Lawrence (1-0) took over and allowed one hit in three innings. Adam Warren, Shawn Armstrong, Zach Duke, Justin Grimm and Roenis Elias pitched an inning each to close it out.“Obviously Kirk Gibson Jersey , to throw nine zeroes up there, it’s hard to do certainly against this team in this ballpark,” Servais said. “But our guys were really sharp tonight.”The Mariners jumped on Dallas Keuchel (11-11) immediately with Mitch Haniger hitting a leadoff single before a double by Jean Segura. A single by Cano came next to make it 1-0, and Keuchel walked Ryon Healy with one out. A wild pitch allowed Segura to score and Cano and Healy to move up a base.Kyle Seager then scorched a line drive that hit Keuchel on the side of the head and sailed into right field to score Cano and make it 3-0. Keuchel didn’t show any outward signs of injury. He was checked on by manager A.J. Hinch and the team trainer for a couple of minutes before throwing some warmup pitches and remaining in the game.He got on track after that, retiring the next 12 batters before walking Haniger with one out in the fifth inning. Cano hit an RBI double with two outs and he reached third on the throw. Nelson Cruz drove him in with a single.Keuchel yielded six hits and five runs in five innings for his first loss since Aug. 18.“They came out and ambushed Dallas,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “Within the first five pitches, we were in a mess and never really recovered from it. They continued to tack on, and we didn’t have an answer. … You just have to chalk it up to a bad night.”Brad Peacock took over to start the sixth inning and was greeted by Seager’s homer, which landed in the seats in right field.Dean Deetz came in for the seventh, and he also allowed a home run to the first batter he faced when Haniger sent one to the Crawford Boxes in left field.Guillermo Heredia hit a solo shot off Cionel Perez in the eighth.TRAINER’S ROOMMariners: LHP James Paxton, who is recovering from the flu and pneumonia, will throw his second bullpen session on Friday and hopes to return to the rotation after that. He said he was “pretty gassed” after throwing 40 pitches in his first bullpen session on Tuesday, but believes he’ll feel better by Friday. “If I get to the point where I have something left in the tank after the bullpen http://www.dodgersfanproshop.com/authentic-maury-wills-jersey , then I’ll get back in a game,” he said. … RHP Felix Hernandez (hamstring) will rejoin the team at Texas and is scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Friday.SCARY MOMENTSeager was shaken up after hitting Keuchel in the head in the first inning. His feeling was certainly understandable considering his history. In 2016 Seager hit a line drive that struck Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker and forced him to undergo emergency brain surgery. Shoemaker has recovered, but Wednesday’s incident with Keuchel brought back those memories.“It was scary,” he said. “Nobody likes that’s stuff. It makes you sick to your stomach. Thankfully he’s all right.”Keuchel said he was fine after the game and added that he feels lucky to have escaped injury.“I like to think that I’m tough, but even myself, I was very fortunate to not have anything seriously wrong afterward,” he said. “I don’t think I got any glove on it.”UP NEXTMariners: Seattle is off Thursday before Erasmo Ramirez (2-3, 5.65 ERA) starts in the opener of a three-game series at Texas. Ramirez allowed four hits and four runs in four innings in his last start but did not factor in the decision in a 6-5 win over the Angels.Astros: Houston is also off Thursday before beginning a series with the Angels with Gerrit Cole (14-5, 2.88) on the mound. Cole’s start was pushed back from Tuesday to give the right-hander, who has thrown 187 1/3 innings this season, some extra rest.