A week after a trade deadline the Yankees blew badly, you can squint and see their way to carving a path through the American League.

First and foremost, that would depend on the same thing it depended on before: a healthy Aaron Judge, a healthy Cody Bellinger and, if you want to be even more hopeful, a healthy Giancarlo Stanton in time for the postseason.

The Yankees still need to survive for a while without that, and as they were reminded with Sunday’s 10-inning 2-1 loss to the Braves, there are going to be days where this lineup is rendered incapable of rewarding a great starting pitching effort.

In this American League, though — where the White Sox and Astros lead their respective divisions despite barely scraping records above .500 — that threatens the Yankees’ chances of winning the Eastern Division far more than their chances of making the playoffs. They can tread water and get to the postseason, though the notion of a wild-card series against the white-hot Red Sox would make anyone nervous.