It's time to grab ourselves one of them there Cubans

Two Cuban refugees will showcase their skills today in front of the Yankee brain trust in the Tampa Tiki camp. I'm sure teeth, testicles and stool samples will be studied. Regardless of the size or shape of the gourds, I  believe I speak for the Yankiverse in saying the two magic words of this spring:

Sign somebody.

Wait a minute. Let me make it the five magic words.

For God's sake, sign somebody.

The two Cubans are a 23-year-old SS named Aledmyas Diaz and a 26-year-old RH pitcher who calls himself Odrisamer Despaigne.

Obviously, we want the infielder. But you don't get many chances in life to sign somebody named Odrisamer Despaigne. Now that Joba's gone, "Odi" might be the tonic for our bullpen.

The Yankees once led the way in courting Cuban talent, in part because the Luis Tiants and El Duques had grown up - like their U.S. counterparts - dreaming of wearing Pinstripes. Old George once hired Tiant - a Havana legend - to serve as a Yankee contact in Cuba. (BTW, Tiant should be in the Hall of Fame.) But after the debacle of 3B Andy Morales (who was much older than advertised) and the fizzling of Jose Contreras - (who, worse, then did well with other teams) - the Yankees soured on Cuba.

Ever since, we've played a cheapo Cuban strategy, signing secondary, picked-over talent like Ronnier Mustellier and Adonis Garcia. (Musty isn't even in camp this year, and Garcia is getting old and, ridiculously, trying to learn 2B.) Most notably, our scouting system whiffed on Jose Iglesias, who signed with the Redsocks. The Yankees had him pegged as a utility player at best. What a difference he would have made last year. Once again, Boston's management out-performed us.

Reportedly, Hal 9000 has decided to make a huge spending splash in the international market this summer. If it's true, great. But I have to wonder the value of publicizing it so heavily, especially when Cashman's other moves almost always come out of nowhere. He is obsessively secretive in trades. It's incredibly rare to see one of his deals outlined in the press before it happens. That leads me to wonder if the Yankees really intend to break the bank - and pay the huge penalties - or they are just trying to salve an extremely critical fan base by claiming everything is OK, the cavalry is on its way.
 Well, if they're doing it - if it's true that global outreach is the next front for the Yankee wallet - let's do it now. These Cubans will sign this weekend.

For God's sake, get somebody.