It has been abundantly clear all season long this is a greatly flawed Yankee team that nevertheless was able to win the American League East and return to the postseason after a one-year absence. For this, credit Aaron Boone, who somehow navigated around being without Gerrit Cole the first two and a half months of the season and with mostly holes in his lineup at third base, first base and left field much of the season to still bring the Yankees home first. But now the postseason is upon us, and as Boone knows all too well, this will be the real referendum for him. For all their warts, the Yankee payroll remains the second highest in baseball, behind only the Mets, and another early exit will generate renewed scrutiny not only on Boone but on Brian Cashman. There are no super teams in the American League this year, making for potentially the Yankees’ easiest path to the World Series since Boone became manager in 2018. But there is also no getting around the major concerns about the lineup, which has been essentially a two-man (Aaron Judge-Juan Soto) operation that was especially exposed in September. To wit: Since returning to the lineup Sept. 1, Anthony Rizzo has seven RBI and has yet to hit a homer. The constantly adjusting Anthony Volpe has again looked lost at the plate, his average dropping nearly 10 points in September with one homer with 25 strikeouts in 23 games as of Saturday. Austin Wells, after being in the AL Rookie of the Year conversation most of the season, has hit the skids in September, his average dropping over 20 points with just one homer. The initial spark Jazz Chisholm brought to the lineup has fizzled in September with just one homer and seven RBI as his average has dropped nearly 10 points. Alex Verdugo has been in a prolonged offensive funk since mid-July and Jasson Dominguez has provided little offensive improvement in left field and has at times been a liability on defense. It remains a mystery why the Yankees continue to eschew their best outfield defense — which would be Soto in left, Judge in right and Dominguez in his natural position, center. What has sustained the Yankees through all their offensive ruts is their consistently effective starting pitching. Despite the loss of Nestor Cortes (and that potentially could be significant given his versatility), in Cole, Carlos Rodon, Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt the Yankees go into the postseason with the deepest rotation, quality-wise, of any team. And after enduring too much anxiety with Clay Holmes, it appears the Yankees have settled the back end of their bullpen with Tommy Kahnle (and the anticipated return of Jake Cousins) as the primary set-up men and Luke Weaver’s emergence as a dependable closer. It is not an exaggeration to say this may be the most important postseason in recent times for the Yankees because they need to justify their $308 million payroll to Hal Steinbrenner, especially because it figures to rise even higher if they are able to re-sign Soto, the cost of which is likely to be a minimum of $500 million. A trip to the World Series for the first time in 15 years would surely make Hal more amenable to spending even more, but if the Yankees should suffer another early KO from a team with a payroll one-third of theirs, it is understandable if the owner wants to know how he got in this predicament? IT’S A MADD, MADD WORLD Well, the White Sox finally did it, falling to the resurgent Tigers Friday night for their 121st loss to surpass the ’62 Mets as the losingest team in major league history, But at least here’s this: The loss left White Sox with a run differential of minus 314, but with only two games left they are unlikely to break that other record of ignominious futility which according to the Elias Bureau is minus 349 by the 43-11 1932 Red Sox. … The Reds fired David Bell as their manager last week, purportedly because the team didn’t live up to ownership’s great expectations, despite the fact they were decimated by injuries. After the Twins collapse there was growing speculation that Rocco Baldelli could be following Bell on the unemployment line. The Twins were in second place in the AL Central on Sept. 5 and seemingly in control of at least a wild card berth but instead went 6-13 to fall to fourth and out of contention. Another team that failed to live up to expectations was the Pirates who have now had five straight losing seasons under GM Ben Cherington and manager Derek Shelton, but Pittsburgh owner Bob Nutting, who was reported to have made a $68 million profit last year, seems disinclined to make any changes. … For their final game in Oakland, the A’s were treated to a full house of 46,889 loyal fans, the final chapter to one of baseball’s great tragedies. It is unconscionable that baseball allowed the A’s billionaire owner John Fisher to strip the team of all its best players after he failed to reach agreement on a new stadium in Oakland, the sixth largest TV market, and then greenlighted his move to Las Vegas, the 42nd largest market.