NEW YORK _ By 4 p.m. on July 31, the Yankees will either have bolstered their starting rotation, or declared the price tags to be unreasonably high.
In his public comments leading up to the trade deadline, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has repeatedly said he's prepared to move into October as is.
We'll all see about that, but those comments take on greater weight whenever Domingo German gives another performance like Friday night's gem at Yankee Stadium.
Back from the All-Star break, the first-place Yankees rode German's six scoreless innings to a 4-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays before 47,162 fans.
German (11-2) struck out seven batters and didn't walk anyone, yielding just three hits and giving the Yankees (58-31) another sampling of how valuable he is to their pennant hopes.
And as Cashman texts, calls and pitches trade ideas for pitching until that drop-dead trade deadline, Aaron Boone is trained on managing the group he's got.
"We know we have a team capable right now of being great. And we have the chance to be the best team in the world," Boone said before Friday's game, repeating his parting comments prior to the All-Star break.
"We believe that, everyone in that room."
And yet, "I know Brian and his staff are going to look around every corner where there's possibilities that could improve our club.
"Whether those come to fruition or not remains to be seen, but our job down here on the field is (to go out and put) our best foot forward. And knowing that when we walk out there every night, the guys who are going out there, we have a really good chance."
Toronto leadoff hitter Eric Sogard opened Friday night's game with a soft single to center and moved to second on a wild pitch.
From there, German retired the next 15 consecutive batters _ seven of them on strikeouts.
To that point, German was locked in a scoreless battle with Jays' right-hander Aaron Sanchez.
But the Yanks struck for four runs in the fifth off Sanchez (3-13), with three of those runs coming on an Edwin Encarnacion bases-clearing double that was slammed hard into the left-center field fence.
German's innings must be watched but "I don't feel like we're anywhere near a limit with him," Boone said before the game.
"I mean, we'll see how our club takes shape over the next few weeks here, but right now it's all systems go with Domingo."
There's a chance that German might wind up as a bullpen option late in the year or in October, depending on the health status of Boone's rotation or if Cashman is able to import a starter via trade.
For now, German is "a guy that we're going to count on heavily here in the second half of the season," Boone said, adding that "you could see a lot of different roles" for German, potentially, as the club moves toward October.
And there was about a month-long timeout for German, who spent time on the injured list recently due to a left hip flexor strain.
"Hopefully those few weeks that he had down will be something that serves him well in the long run," Boone said.
The longest-tenured Yankee, Brett Gardner's terrific night began with a leadoff triple that began the Yanks' four-run rally in the fifth.
Continuing his excellent season with runners in scoring position, D.J. LeMahieu drove in Gardner with a right-side groundout.
In the sixth, Gardner's cue shot off the end of the bat resulted in a hustle double, surprising left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
Later in the inning, the Blue Jays successfully challenged an out call at first base on a would-be third strike-wild pitch against Aaron Judge, taking Gardner's run off the board.
In the seventh, Gardner _ playing left field _ threw out Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at second base, attempting to stretch a single into what appeared to be a sure double.
