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This has been, and still is, the home office for "You don't lose a pennant in June, July or August, Inc.," and for "It ain't over 'til it's over, Ltd.," but a word of caution Yankees fans, there's no reason to get giddy over winning two out of three from the Red Sox when the net gain was only one game (still a 12 1/2-game deficit), three starting pitchers combined to log only 15 innings and they gave up 13 runs and 26 hits.

If pitching is to carry the Yankees to the Promised Land, what are we to make of Andy Pettitte (4 1/3 innings, five runs, seven hits and leaving the game after straining his lower back), Mike Mussina (five innings, five runs, nine hits) and even Chien-Ming Wang (5 2/3 innings, three runs, 10 hits in a winning effort)?

That was hardly a weekend to inspire confidence that a 1978-type comeback is at hand. Catching the Red Sox for a 10th consecutive American League East championship is still as remote as Uranus, and even reaching the postseason as a Wild Card, while still possible, remains far-fetched because to do so, the Yankees will have to leap-frog over seven teams.

Face it, Yankees fans, what we have learned so far this season is that the Yankees dynasty as we have known it in the 12-year Joe Torre era is over, the life sucked out of it by (1.) underachievement from a shocking number of players, (2.) encroaching old age that hit in so many places at the same time, and (3.) An inordinate number of injuries (there seems to be a connection between Nos. 2 and 3).

There will be no Roger Clemens riding in on his white horse to save the fair damsel in distress for at least another week, maybe more, no Doug Mientkiewicz, no Jason Giambi (possibly for the remainder of this season), no Philip Hughes (ditto), no Johnny (as we knew ye) Damon, and maybe no Bobby (ditto) Abreu and Mike (also ditto) Mussina. The time may soon come when the Yankees will have to bag this season and begin making plans for the future. Back up the bus to Yankee Stadium and begin to unload. But where to start?

Except for starting pitching, the farm system is bereft of Major League talent, with the best of the lot (Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera) already in the Bronx. The trade market is threadbare because the Yankees are strangled with a collection of chips (except for their young pitchers) that are too old and too expensive.

The only keepers now are Wang, Derek Jeter (whose best days in the field are probably behind him), Jorge Posada (who will start next season at age 36) and Mariano Rivera (who will be 38 on opening day, 2008).

What to do about Alex Rodriguez, who is approaching his 32nd birthday, can opt out of his present contract and is looking for an extension? Sign him? Let him walk? Trade him? Who's going to take that onerous contract and what can the Yankees get in return?

What to do about Giambi ($20.4 million, 36 years old), Mussina ($19 million, 38 years old), Pettitte ($16.4 million, 35 years old), Johnny Damon ($13 million, 33 years old) and Bobby Abreu ($13.6 million, 33 years old)?

The only sensible thing is to break it up and rebuild from the ground floor with young players. It's a time-honored solution to an age-old problem, but it requires patience and the willingness to suffer the two or three (or more) years of deprivation while the reconstruction takes place.

But the Yankees of recent decades have been a "now" team, and with a new Yankee Stadium less than two years away, winning now is even more essential than it was in the past. Are the Yankees willing to suffer the growing pains and live with the struggles that come with rebuilding?

Are you?