What's the real reason for this drawn out process of naming the next Yankee manager?

Over the last 48 hours, the list of candidates to be Next Yankee whipping mule Manager supposedly has expanded by three - David Cone, John Flaherty and Aaron Boone - with each offering one key talent: The ability to seamlessly take over and rebrand The Joe Girardi Show, in much the way that Dick Sargent replaced Dick York on Bewitched... that is, Samantha (aka Meredith Marakovits) will pretend to not even notice! (But we will.)

And let's not kid ourselves: The Aaron Boone Show - or The Coney Show! - is no small potatoes. In fact, it's worth wondering how much actual weight it will carry in the managerial search.

Let me put it this way: Will anyone watch The Al Pedrique Show?

In the upside-down world of sports culture, the YES Network - built around the airing of Yankee games - is worth more than the team itself. How can I speak such blasphemy? In 2014, Rupert Murdoch bought 80 percent of YES for $3.9 billion. Last May, Forbes estimated the worth of the Yankees at $3.4 billion - yep - a half-billion less, two years later. (Once again, let these numbers remind us of the ridiculously unfathomable wealth of the Steinbrenner family, next time Hal poor-mouths about luxury taxes.)

Hence, I'm wondering how critical it will be for the next Yankee whipping mule manager to be an experienced media phony, who can woo Suzyn in the Managers Show and survive 30 excruciating minutes with Ms. Meredith once a week. (By the way, it's not her fault; watching managers visit pizza shops and petting zoos isn't exactly talk show gold.) The World Series managers over the last three years - Ned Yost, Terry Collins, Terry Francona, Joe Maddon, AJ Hinch and Dave Roberts - made their bones as managers, not baseball versions of Ryan Seacrest. (And Roberts works in LA, where blowing kisses on camera is paramount.) 

So, I ask: Are the stories true or fake news? Are the Yankees really pondering Coney, Flash and Booney? We'll soon know - maybe, anyway - if they receive invitations for sit-down interviews with Cooperstown Cashman. This week, Rob Thomson - odds on fave in Las Vegas on Oct. 27, when the above chart was published - endured a five-hour tribunal, describing what he'll do when Aaron Judge has his bad month, or Dellin Betances goes Todd Proctor. How much was Thomson explaining his philosophy, and how much was he auditioning for CenterStage with Michael Kay?

Clearly, the Yankees have one key advantage: Even though he's joined at the hip with the reanimated corpse of Rupert Murdoch, Prince Hal doesn't have to give a shit about the zombified, feces-faced cadaver and his army of the dead. The Yankees will enter 2018 with a young, emerging lineup and sky-high expectations, pulling solid ratings no matter who stands grimacing in the dugout. YES viewership will shoot through the roof, especially if the team signs the Japanese Babe Ruth. Thus, I wonder if  the real reason for this lengthy trial is something else, entirely.

Could the process less related to bullpens and more to Harvey Feinstein and Bill O'Reilly?

Yep. Bingo. I'm betting the Evil Empire is vetting every candidate on the chances of a New York Times front page expose on April 1, where a dozen women share dick pix or lurid stories from hotel rooms in the Catskills. If a Yankee manager were thus charged - even if happened in 1992 - imagine how ESPN - (think: Boston) - would explode with indignation. I'm betting that Cash is waiting for the Steele dossiers to be finished. It's a new world, folks. You can call it the upside-down, but I'd call it the new due diligence and - frankly - overdue-due. Which means no doo-doo, right?