With all the money in the world, the Yankees still read the menu from right to left

Today, the Internet says Nathan Eovaldi is on the verge of signing a four-year deal to stay in Boston. This is terrible, horrible, rotten news on multiple levels of human torture. Not only is Eovaldi the best pitcher currently available on the free agent market, but he is a certifiable "Yankee killer." It was one thing to balk at Patrick Corbin's six-year deal. Now, are we walking away from Eovaldi because he's getting four? Apparently. 

Listen: Every starter on the market will come with serious flags about his future health and well being. And they will all want deals that run longer than the Yankees want to give.

One difference is emerging: The Redsocks have looked at Eovaldi and decided they want him. They see a power pitcher with ace potential and a good heart, who has proved himself in the post-season cauldron.  

The Yankees, on the other hand, don't see Eovaldi. They see just four years at a certain price tag. 

They walked into the restaurant, saw the price of steak, and they're settling for the salad bar. Get ready for the garbanzo beans, folks. We're going to fill up on bread. 

Right now, when we look at the two franchises, we can see a fundamental differences in their philosophies.

Boston looks at the player. The Yankees look at the price.

Okay, I know what you're thinking... Duke, it's wa-a-a-y too soon in the winter to rage against Food Stamps Hal Steinbrenner's unending cheapness. Tomorrow, he could sign Bryce Harper for more money than the state of Delaware and blow all budget expectations out of the water. Also, we can't sign everybody. Presumably, if Boston keeps Eovaldi and Steve Pearce (whom they already signed), they'll be done for the winter, blah blah blah.

Listen: Boston is the new Yankees. There is no reason to think they'll be done after Eovaldi. Their ownership wants to win multiple rings. Ours doesn't want to overpay on kibble. 

I believe Cooperstown Cashman is wavering between two strategies:  

1. The scrap heap picker: Instead of big splashes, Cashman will tweak the roster through a series of Luke Voit-type acquisitions. Over the years, his wheelhouse has been finding position players off the scrapheap and getting decent value. His weakness has been in trading for power arms, who have logged too many innings. If the Yankees go cheap and small, they will let Machado and Harper sign elsewhere, find a cheap Didi replacement, grab some bullpen lug nuts and secondary starting pitchers. At the July deadline, they'll drain the last dregs from their farm system for salary dump rentals. 

2. The bludgeon: They sign either Harper or Machado, even though neither fits this roster. If it's Manny, he plays SS (where he's not that good, range-wise) and tilts the lineup to the RH side. If it's Bryce, the OF becomes overcrowded, or he takes up 1B, a risky move considering Gleyber's and Andujar's errant throws. In both scenarios, Clint Frazier never sees the light of day, and the Yankees try to homer their way to the world series. They'll get great ratings on YES, but they'll be a plane with five propellers and one wing. 

There is the mixture of #1 and #2, but that requires a total makeover - trades of Frazier, Bird, maybe even Andujar, or maybe even Giancarlo, if the Dodgers would bite. Cashman could tear everything apart and start over. 

Either way, right now, the Yankees are looking at players and cringing over the price tags. Soon, Hal must pull out his wallet. The days are growing short.