Yankees-Orioles series has lost its suspense with AL East nearly clinched, is home field advantage worth fighting for?

A series that from early April seemed a lock to serve as the deciding stretch run in a photo finish for the AL East isn’t quite going to be that after all.

Sure, the East certainly will be decided this week when the second-place Orioles start a three-game series Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.

But there will be little drama in determining division champion insofar as the series is concerned. With the Yankees holding a magic number of one to clinch the East -- leading the Orioles by six games with six to play -- the series is now more coronation than anything else.

“I think everyone in that room knows what’s at stake and what the mission is and where we’re at on the calendar and the opportunity in front of us,” manager Aaron Boone said after the Yankees went 5-1 on a six-game trip to the West Coast with a victory over the A’s Sunday to complete a three-game sweep at Oakland Coliseum. “So I think guys are ready to just do what we’ve got to do to win ballgames and give ourselves a chance come October.”

Though winning the East at this point is a foregone conclusion, the matter of having the best record in the American League is not.

Though the Yankees are looking pretty good there, too.

They came into Monday 92-64, 2 ½ games ahead of the Guardians.

How important is clinching home field?

Important but not integral.

Speaking before Sunday’s game, Boone said he would get “creative” with his lineup upon clinching the division, meaning getting select regulars off their feet and, by doing so, giving playing time in advance of October to keep fresh those who don’t see the field as much.

Asked specifically about the importance of homefield before Sunday’s game, Boone provided a degree of word salad.

“We’d love to get it,” Boone said. “We’re going to be playing these games to win. Again, hopefully we do clinch and hopefully we win this division first and foremost. Certainly we understand it’s (best record) there to be had. Would want that, but you’re always striking the balance between that and making sure guys are in a good spot.”

So you would not pursue that with the same vigor as, say, winning the division?

“Look, we’re going to try and win games,” Boone said. “I actually do think it will be the same. Certainly, if you get into a situation, we’ll prioritize guys’ health and things like that. But if we can have it all doing into the postseason, we’re attracted to that.”

Distilled through Google Translate, that basically means: once they clinch the division, the Yankees will treat those remaining games as want-to-win rather than the must-win affairs they would see them as if the division crown was at stake.

While some may disapprove of that approach, there is a two-fold reality here: first, while not a lock, the Yankees are more likely than not to secure home field because their lead over Cleveland is actually 3 ½ games because the Yankees won the season series, 4-2.

Second, the only team home field truly matters against is the Astros, who are going to win the West. But the Astros were just 85-71 as of Monday so if the Yankees do see their No. 1 October nemesis of the past decade at any point, that series would start at the Stadium.

Second: other than Houston’s Minute Maid Park – a torture chamber for the Yankees like none other in recent memory and still the root cause of baseball PTSD among more than a few members of the organization – there simply isn’t a potential opponent in this year’s AL postseason that has such a fearsome home field it’s difficult to imagine the Yankees winning a game, or more, in their ballpark.

Cleveland?

Kansas City?

Baltimore?

Detroit?

Minneapolis?

Exactly.

No, the real intrigue this week involves the behind-the-scenes organizational talks regarding the postseason – talks already casually or informally being had for weeks – that will burn hotter.

Among the topics and resulting questions: For the short series, who is the third starter behind Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon?

Clarke Schmidt? AL Rookie of the Year candidate Luis Gil? Nestor Cortes, whose vastly different look from the mound is appealing?

And who of the left-out starters ends up in the bullpen? Then, which reliever (s) gets dropped from the bullpen? Could one of those victims be up-and-down closer Clay Holmes? What will the organization choose to value most in the postseason when it comes to starting leftfielder in deciding between Alex Verdugo or Jasson Dominguez? Defense? Speed? Offense? Arm?

No, standings aside, still plenty of drama to come.