Have the Yankees gone from a great franchise to merely a good one?

It’s one of the biggest questions in baseball after the All-Star break: Who are these New York Yankees? Are they the team that came out on top from the start, riding a 50-game winning streak against just 22 losses? A team that, despite being without its AL Cy Young Award-winning ace, Gerrit Cole, for most of the season, had one of the best rotations and bullpens in baseball? A team that relies on a surprise rookie, Luis Gil, who posted a 2.03 ERA in his first 14 starts, more or less out of nowhere? Are they the team with an offense that resembles something from the Yankees’ past, with Juan Soto, acquired in a blockbuster deal with San Diego in December, immediately feeling at home, posting MVP numbers as the Bombers’ offense soared even as Aaron Judge took his time to warm up. By the way, Judge finally warmed up to near-sunshine levels, putting up some of the most eye-popping first-half numbers in recent memory — 34 homers, 24 doubles and a Ruthian OPS — but I digress. Are the Yankees a team that finally took the heat off manager Aaron Boone and general manager Brian Cashman, who, under tremendous scrutiny before acquiring Soto, had seemingly finally assembled a roster capable of doing something the Yankees haven’t done since 2009: reaching a World Series?

Or is the club’s recent form (the Yankees have won just eight of their last 26 games) what makes them… In fact Are they worse than the worst teams in baseball? The Chicago White Sox, Miami Marlins, Oakland A’s and Colorado Rockies, who have won more games than the Yankees in that span. Are they a team whose offense begins and ends with Soto, Judge and Stanton, their oft-injured designated hitter who has hit 18 homers in limited time? At least for now, it appears that those dominant Yankees of April and May have succumbed to the suddenly depleted roster that let them down in June and July. Beyond the Big Three, there isn’t a single New York hitter in the lineup with an OPS above .700 — the mark of an average hitter — with the exception of Ben Rice, a little-known rookie who has hit six homers in 24 games. Let’s just say that calling their lineup “unbalanced” is kind.

Meanwhile, the pitching staff is taking on water. All-Star closer Clay Holmes, so solid in his first 30 appearances, has allowed 12 runs in 9 ⅔ innings. Gil has bounced back in his last two starts, after the rookie endured a stretch in which he allowed 16 runs in just 9 2/3 innings. Marcus Stroman is a pitcher built to pitch anywhere but Yankee Stadium, and Carlos Rodón has an ERA of over seven since June. Gulp!

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This brutal stretch for New York ended fittingly on Sunday when the team limped into the break in Baltimore with Holmes blowing a two-run lead in the ninth inning and his sixth save of the season thanks to shortstop Anthony Volpe missing a routine game-ending grounder and left fielder Alex Verdugo misjudging a fly ball, allowing the winning run to score.

So, let’s ask again: Who are the Yankees? The 50-22 team? Or the 8-18 club? As always, the answer is usually somewhere in the middle, meaning that once again, there are several teams better than New York, and New York finally breaking its World Series drought seems pretty unlikely. What it also means is that at age 32, another Judge season is about to go to waste. Judge is — and this seems a little crazy to write — probably the best hometown Yankees hitter since Mickey Mantle. Not only has Judge not won a World Series, he’s never been to one. This puts him alongside Don Mattingly in the lonely category of all-time best Yankees without titles. Perhaps more accurately, it puts him in a box with Mike Trout, one of the best hitters ever, who has played playoff baseball in just one season. Even the addition of Shohei Ohtaini couldn’t bring poor Mike Trout more October baseball.

What can the Yankees do to help Judge finally make it to the Fall Classic? Well, there are too many roster issues to fix at the trade deadline, and while the team can get a boost by promoting prospects, there are bigger problems in the Bronx, even if the team is just one game behind the AL East-leading Orioles.

That’s because the Yankees have a culture problem. I’m not talking about Boone, the best player manager, not criticizing his team for lack of effort or the mental errors that have plagued his nine players during this stretch. I’m not even talking about the job Cashman has done, which included abandoning the Yankees’ basic offensive formula that helped them win 27 titles (left-handed power) until they finally came to terms with Soto. Cashman can’t fire himself. No, this era is the responsibility of the owner.

If the Yankees don’t return to the World Series this season, it will mean that under Hal Steinbrenner, the Yankees will have endured their longest skid without reaching the World Series since 1903 to 1920 — a period that began when the team was known as the Highlanders and ended with the club sharing the Polo Grounds with the Giants — when the “House that Ruth Built” wasn’t even built.

Is Steinbrenner a spender? Yes, the Yankees are in second place, behind their crosstown rivals. The Mets, on the payroll this seasonIs he willing to do absolutely anything to win like his father, George? No. Hal is seemingly more interested in the business than the business of winning championships. After being eliminated from the playoffs last year, Steinbrenner echoed Giannis Antetokounmpo’s comments after the playoff exit — “It’s not a failure. It’s steps toward success” — by refusing to call the season a failure. Good for Giannis. Good for most teams. Not good for the Yankees. Cashman hasn’t brought the results and rings that are the ultimate success in the Yankees universe. Yet Steinbrenner doesn’t hold Cashman accountable, even after a quarter-century as GM.

Some theorize that New York pulled the trigger on dealing Soto this offseason, a move that pushed the payroll to more than $300 million, only when the brand and business were being legitimately threatened by the franchise’s lack of a sense of urgency.

Then in May, while the Yankees were on a roll, Steinbrenner said“I’ll be honest: payrolls at the levels we’re at now are simply not sustainable for us financially. They wouldn’t be sustainable for the vast majority of ownership groups, given the luxury tax we have to pay.”

It may not be sustainable, but with the team on a roll it was a curious time to set expectations for the fan base, who shouldn’t fall in love with Soto since his re-signing after the season is anything but a sure thing. He also said the roster is “championship-caliber,” something New York’s recent results don’t support. This Yankees team looks like more of the same: good enough to make the playoffs, but not good enough to reach or win the World Series. There’s every reason to believe that regardless of the results, Cashman would once again avoid the firing. That’s the current culture in the Bronx, one that’s content with being good but not great, something that directly undermines the foundation on which the franchise stands. And so a 28th title could be a long way off.