Whether now or after the MLB draft, the Yankees must sign Dallas Keuchel

Nine days from now, the old, white, billionaire owners of our national pastime will once again hold the unscrupulous and exploitative cattle auction known as the MLB Draft. These lords of "capitalism" will select prime talent from a national menu, bestow millions of dollars upon a chosen few - so working Americans will shake their heads over what appears to be a giveaway - and then short-ball everybody else with "take-it-or-leave-it" offers, based on rules the owners imposed upon themselves to keep down costs. They will own the players for six years. The system spares them from ever having to bid on young talent. (That's why one of the premier prospects will go to Japan, rather than the draft.) 

In this contemptible celebration of institutional control, the Yankees will draft 30th, a place dictated by last year's wild card finish. They will then draft eight picks later in a "sandwich" round, a choice received from the Reds in the Sonny Gray trade. 

Apparently, that pick is why the Yankees have sat on the curb for the last four months, rattling a cup rather than signing the pitcher Dallas Keuchel. Because Keuchel last winter received a qualifying offer from the Astros, any successful team that signed him would forfeit their highest pick after the first round, and that's what the Yankees would lose: Pick No. 38. 

Yesterday, the great website Fangraphs published a team-by-team assessment of the costs of signing Keuchel right now. For Death Star fans, it's infuriating. If we thought the newly revised CBA between the owners and the Players Union would lessen the shackles on us, we were wrong. Even though the Yankees no longer lead baseball in payroll, or success - or stature, for that matter - if we had signed Keuchel, we'd face a higher cost than anybody else in baseball. Go figure.

That said, Fangraphs gauges the overall Yankee hit at a mere cost of about $10.6 million. And that's if we sign him before the June 3 draft. If we sign him, say, June 6, as far as I can tell, whatever punishments remain would roll over to next year, and who knows where we'll be? Maybe the Martians will attack, and there won't even be an MLB draft, okay? 

This we know: Barring an incredible collapse, the 2019 Yankees will either win the AL East or a Wild Card birth. Today, their biggest concern is - well, the usual one: pitching, pitching, pitching. 

Domingo German will soon exceed innings projections for the year. Masahiro Tananka and JA Happ run hot and cold. CC Sabathia will always be a sidestep away from knee surgery, James Paxton is proving as fragile as his reputation, Luis Severino's injuries are increasingly a troubling mystery, and it's a steep drop to what we have in Scranton: Chance Adams, Nestor Cortez Jr. and David Hale. Right now, there is no hot young pitcher rocketing up through the minors, a potential game-changer for September. The "Next Man Up" concept, which kept us in position players, does not necessarily apply to pitching. 

Sign Keuchel, and here's the rotation: German, Happ, Tanaka, Keuchel, Paxton, Sabathia and maybe Severino. Seven men for five slots. It's a plan that can win. It's a plan that lets us keep Clint Frazier, Thairo Estrada, Estevan Florial and whomever else is currently being coveted by opposing scouts. And if their destiny is to be trade chips, at least the deals can be made over the winner, when all sides are on equal footing.

The Yankees are currently financing the repurchase of YES Network, a deal that runs in billions. In comparison, the cost of Keuchel is a fried egg sandwich. 

Come next spring, our man in the old, white patriarchs club - Prince Hal Steinbrenner - could be launching the reacquired YES with the Yankees as reigning world champions. Or we could be once again looking up at Boston.

Mr. Steinbrenner, there can be no debate here. There are no excuses for inaction. The Yankees must sign Dallas Keuchel.