Open letter to the Yankees: It is time to sign Stephen Drew

Dear Madam or Sirs,

I figured you've dragged your heels on Stephen Drew, not wanting to surrender a top draft pick to Boston, because the player could haunt us for the next 15 years as a testimonial to Yankee front office ineptitude. Better Drew signs with somebody else, you decided. That way, the franchise can't look worse than it already does.

Well, a couple things...

1. That ship sailed. The Yankee front office will be remembered for throwing money at the team's vast problems the way Bush-Cheney did at Iraq, after invading the country and bequeathing to the world a generational catastrophe.

2. Derek Jeter is leaving. (In case you haven't heard, congratulations on getting off the ventilator; it's 2014 and Shirley Temple not only grew up, but she died of old age.) The farewell year marketing has already begun. Last year, you sold Mariano Rivera's goodbyes like a new chicken sandwich at Wendy's. And then the Yankees failed him. They couldn't even supply a supporting cast capable of getting to the post-season. Will we do that twice?

3. If the Yankees sign Drew, the Redsocks will receive less in compensation. They'll receive a Yankee draft pick, and we have already lost our top picks to other signings. Boston might be draft in the second or third round, and the Yankees - well - we don't even have to show up on the first day of the draft.

4. We still have gaping holes in the infield, and they didn't shrink as a result of Jeter's announcement. There is no way to read Jeter, never was. But the fact that he views this year as the finale must be interpreted as a sign he also senses his limitations. If we sign Drew, he becomes insurance at three positions. He could easily become the team's most valuable player in 2014.

5. You can never have enough pissed off former Redsocks with something to prove. Boston dissed Drew this winter. He's not God's answer to an infield, but they simply chose the rookie, Xander Bogartes, over Drew. For all his talent, Bogartes still hasn't proven himself. I'm sure Drew would love to outhit and outplay the kid, and there would no better payback than doing it with the Yankees.

6. Suddenly, you're facing payroll limits? I can understand that Yankee money isn't infinite. But if we're midway through July with a broken infield, the call will go out to find somebody - and it will mean taking on a huge salary dump and giving up several prospects - a price far higher than a draft pick. This is as cheap as it's going to get, aside from gathering old bottles from the waiver wire. Last year, we learned what happens when you spend a season running a metal detector over the scrap heap.

7. Oh, screw this list. Sign Stephen Drew, dammit. In for a penny, in for a pound. Sign Stephen Drew, and you go from 85 wins to 90, and that's the Wild Card, bam, right there. With a little luck, you're two out on September 15, and we can sort everything out from there. Sign Stephen Drew, Yankees. The stakes have only gotten higher. Sign Stephen Drew.