Andy Pettitte, like Phil Hughes, like Ivan Nova, hasn’t been perfect this season but then why should he have to be? He only gave up a couple of runs last night and Texas won anyway. That’s the story of most of our pitchers (CC has his own problems and Kuroda is nearly always stellar). Will getting Soriano from the Cubs really help the Yankees’ anemic offense? Maybe a little, but it’s just not fun to watch the games night after night and only occasionally see a few players actually cross home plate.

No wonder ratings on YES are down. No wonder the seats at various ballparks, including Yankee Stadium, aren’t full of bodies. No wonder jerseys that don’t say “Jeter” and “Rivera” and “Cano” aren’t selling.

Which only leaves the latest drama with A-Rod as a subject the media can sink their teeth into. He said his quad was tight. The Yankees told him not to play but to rest it and get an MRI. The MRI showed a grade 1 strain. Believing the Yankees are trying to keep him off the field forever, he got a “second opinion” from a doctor in Hackensack with a shady record and the doctor, who only looked at the MRI, not the patient, said, “I don’t see any grade 1 strain.” Which required a response from Cashman/a Yankees lawyer (the statement was written in legalese) saying A-Rod had violated all sorts of protocol.

I love a good conspiracy theory just like the next person, but I’d rather be intrigued by the play on the field. This season is turning into an episode of “The Twilight Zone,” for anyone old enough to remember that show.