The conversations within the Yankees' organization throughout July were, at their core, about what the team's fans want to watch. The Yankees had a lineup of established stars, from Alex Rodriguez to Carlos Beltran to Mark Teixeira, the kind of big names the franchise had relied on for years for championships and ticket sales and TV ratings.

But it was a formula that wasn't working, apparently, because the Yankees weren't playing well and the biggest names were struggling, and beyond all of that, it wasn't a particularly interesting team to watch. The Yankees had old players playing an old brand of baseball and general manager Brian Cashman argued that it was time for turnover, a sell-off -- which it was, but still, that's a very difficult argument in light of the team's history. Because of the success of the old brand.

Owner Hal Steinbrenner didn't sign off immediately on the idea of trading Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller and Beltran, and cutting Rodriguez. But despite some apparent reservations about the appearance to fans that the Yankees might giving up in the middle of the season, Steinbrenner gave his blessing for the makeover.

But a funny thing has happened. The Yankees have gleaned the expected long-term benefit with their trades, stacking their farm system with prospects -- but they might also have gotten immediately better and lot more interesting to fans.

"The little engine that could," one player evaluator joked Saturday after the Yankees unveiled the roster without Rodriguez and a lineup with newly promoted first baseman Tyler Austin and outfielder Aaron Judge. Just one at-bat into their respective careers, each homered, doing something no pair of teammates had ever done (and courtesy of Michael Kay, they have a nickname already: the Baby Bombers).

At day's end, after the win over the Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees continued to hang in the AL wild-card race, 3½ games behind the Red Sox, with 46 games to play. The Yankees are perfectly positioned to continue to block any of the other AL East contenders from making deals through waiver claims, but it's unlikely that the Yankees will make any substantive moves for themselves. They are committed to using the rest of their schedule to play Austin, Judge and catcher Gary Sanchez, who has looked phenomenal so far in his work behind the plate. Chad Green will step into the rotation this week, and Luis Cessa, who was acquired with Green in a trade last winter for Justin Wilson, will continue to get opportunities to pitch. Luis Severino will work on his changeup in the big leagues.

According to Baseball Prospectus, the Yankees' chances for making the postseason are at about 6.3 percent, or about what they were when Chapman, Miller and Beltran were dealt. But for Yankees fans, there will be a very different product and probably more attractive. In this era, the NFL draft gets huge ratings, and the biggest day of the year in college football seems to be national signing day -- not because of established stars, of course, but because there is something different, and because hope is renewed.

The Yankees' new lineup might turn out to be just as inconsistent as the old lineup. Judge is going to swing and miss a lot, and he tends to be very streaky. Austin is generally regarded as a good but not great prospect, with a limited ceiling. The young starters may flounder. The Yankees will probably miss the playoffs.

But the team looks different and is perceived differently. A franchise which doesn't change its uniform has been newly branded.

From Elias Sports Bureau: Austin and Judge are the first pair of teammates to hit back-to-back home runs on the first plate appearance of their careers in MLB history. They're also the first pair of teammates to hit a home run in their first career at-bat in the same game.

The duo is just the fourth and fifth players in Yankees history to hit a home run in their first career plate appearance. The others: Andy Phillips in 2004, Marcus Thames in 2002 and John Miller in 1966.

Judge's long ball was particularly impressive, as it was:

• The longest home run by a Yankee this season.

• The longest homer by a Yankee at Yankee Stadium since Alex Rodriguez's 460-foot HR on June 10, 2011.

• Tied for the fourth-longest home run at Yankee Stadium by any player since the park opened in 2009 (as the table shows).

More from Elias: Since the end of World War II, the only other Yankees teammates to make their major league debut as starters in the same game are Yogi Berra and Bobby Brown on Sept. 22, 1946, and Johnny Ellis and Jim Lyttle on May 17, 1969.

On a day the Yankees honored the 1996 champions, they showed the power of their future, writes Tyler Kepner.