With Toronto, Boston and Seattle losing Monday, the Yankees gained a half game on all of them, and are five games behind the Blue Jays and a fraction of a percentage point ahead of the Red Sox and Mariners for the first wild-card spot. Yet, Max Fried remains the elephant in the room.

For so much of the season, Max Fried had been brilliant. The New York Yankees signed Fried this offseason to help helm their rotation with Gerrit Cole, and once Cole sustained a season-ending elbow injury,