“I’m prepared for the worst,” Cashman said late Sunday morning in Jupiter, Florida, before the Yankees played the Cardinals in a Grapefruit League game. Cashman, speaking to reporters from Newsday and the New York Post, said his many years in the game have taught him to often take a fatalistic view of things.

They Yankees will likely see if role players and youngsters can step up, then assess the trade market as they learn more about themselves.

Where there is smoke, there is fire and the Yankees could soon find their season up in flames due to Gerrit Cole’s elbow injury.