Yesterday I questioned the Yankees’ trade for Wilson Betemit; such a deal did not make sense for a team who seems to be in the playoff hunt and not in the practice of rebuilding. Today, new information has come to light that opens the door wide open to total and complete speculation that is only normal to one team in the world: the New York Yankees.

Today, Fortune Magazine reports that the New York freakin’ Yankees are showing signs of a yard sale of sorts.

The highest-rated regional sports network in the country and the cable home of the Yankees and the NBA New Jersey Nets, YES is jointly owned by the Yankees, investment bank Goldman Sachs & Co. (Charts, Fortune 500) , and former Nets owner Ray Chambers. Goldman and Chambers would like to cash out, YES and Yankees insiders say, and one source says to expect a deal by summer’s end.

Rumor has it, that some of the limited partners are wondering if then the Yankees organization might go up for sale some time soon as well. The thought process is as follows: if the YES Network - the flagship and cash cow of Steinbrenner’s portfolio and currently the cash flow support needed for the insane payroll of the Yanks - is up for sale at a price higher than the Yankees organization is valued at… doesn’t that suggest the team is for sale too?

George’s youngest son Hal says “no”. To be exact he says “There’s no thought of selling the team. It’s been in the family for 35 years, and it’s going to stay that way.” Okay, so if we are to believe Hal, how about this as a possible scenario: Everyone knows Steinbrenner probably wants one more World Series ring before he hands the team over to Hal and GM Brian Cashman. George sells YES for $3 billion and uses that money to amass the greatest 25 man roster in the history of baseball history by signing/ re-signing such players as Roger Clemens (to another season), C.C. Sabathia, Alex Rodriguez, Bartolo Colon, Eric Gagne, Adam Dunn, Jason Isringhausen, Andy Pettite, Mike Piazza, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, etc.

If that happens, the hatred of the Yankees would grow so thick that you could literally pour it over pancakes and eat it for breakfast. I would instantly claim we were experiencing the apocalypse of Major League Baseball, sell all my belongings and live in a cave until I felt it was safe to come out and assume that most of the players signed by the Yankees were retired or dead. Just to be safe I might have to wait for the latter.

The other, more reasonable alternative scenario would be that George sells YES, pockets the cash, hands the team over to Hal, and he and Cashman rebuild the Yankees organization through the farm system and not with the unlimited bankroll we are all so accustomed to. In this case the Yankees, probably still with the highest payroll in baseball, go through some growing pains before essentially evening out with other similarly historic teams like the Red Sox and Cubs.

At this point though who knows, and Hal’s comments could easily be a smoke screen for the impending sale, but it’s just impossible for me to imagine the Yankees without The Boss in the owner’s box. That would be like reading about the Al Davis-less Oakland Raiders organization or the World Champion Chicago Cubs: they are opposite of everything we have known to be true in professional sports.

• The dismantling of the Yankee empire (CNNMoney.com)