After all these years, could Yoan Moncada finally become a Yankee?

Long, long ago, we at IT IS HIGH had a hilarious, brilliant and absolutely delightful running gag, where somebody would post the name "Yoan Moncada," and we'd go, "YOANNNNNNN MONNNNNNCADA... SLOWLY, I TURNED... STEP BY STEP...  INCH BY INCH, I CREPT UP TO HIM... " the old Vaudeville bit, commonly associated with "Niagara Falls," which ended with a beating. Badabadoom. O, we were so young and fab! 

In 2015, Moncada was a 20-year-old, Cuban free agent, a generational, five-tool talent who drew comparisons to Robby Cano. He switch hit, played 3B and 2B, ranked 7th on the MLB prospect list and, as everyone knew, was destined to become a Yankee. (Back then, the franchise used its financial clout, rather than self-castrate to avoid luxury taxes.)   

Moncada turned out to be Hal Steinbrenner's first great mess-up, an early sign that that Food Stamps was, in reality, a shoe salesman in charge of a baseball team. He let Boston outbid us, a then-staggering $30 million signing bonus -rather comical by today's standards. But Hal peed his pants and threw up his hands. (Later, the Yankees, in a whisper campaign, blamed an in-law, now disappeared, for the botched negotiations.) 

Moncada didn't last long with the Redsocks. Eight games, to be precise. In 2016, they traded him to the White Sox as the key lug nut in a four-player package, effectively converting him into Chris Sale, who won Boston a world series two years later. 

(The Yankees, of course, have since appeared in one world series, where they performed a brief cameo of the 1961 Mets.)

Moncada never became the next Robby. Over nine years, he has 93 HRs and a career BA of .254. He showed glimpses: In 2018, he hit 25 HRs and batted .315. But even then, the guy couldn't lay off curveballs, and, in his career season, he led the AL in strikeouts.  

Last year, he appeared in 12 games, 40 at-bats, due to chronic injuries. The guy was always a bit too bulked up for his own good. I'm not sure whether 2B is still an option. 

So, why are we discussing Moncad-YOANNNNNNNNN MONCADA... SLOOOOOOOLY I TURNED...  STEP BY STEP... INCH BY INCH... 

Sorry about that. So... why Monca- um - you know. Well, he's out there. A free agent. No qualifying offer. He's pushing 30, and he's probably on the cheap side, if Hal feels inclined (And if the Yankees can trade Marcus Stroman's $18 million contract.)

You can argue either way. You can say, better late than never. Let's rectify Hal's original fuck-up. He's only 30. And don't they all become Yankees, eventually?

Or you can say, screw dat: We already have enough lottery tickets - Goldschmidt, Bellinger, LeMahieu, Stanton, Volpe, Wells - this could be another Kevin Youkilis. We don't need another 150 Ks. 

Honestly, I dunno. But Yoan Mon- um - he's out there. And we have a hole at 3B. Slowly, we turn...?