Are the Yankees talking themselves into a monster trade?

Long, long ago and not far from here... my young wife and I went house-hunting. We had a strict, cast-iron limit on how much to spend. Under no circumstances, we would stick below $120,000. This was non-negotiable. We wouldn't go higher. No way. No fucking way. Carved in stone. Nothing, NOTHING, could edge us above that number, and I'd punch you in the mouth for even suggesting it. 

So... we eventually spent $141,000. Kaboom. What can I say? Mission creep. Once you hit the Viagra fog of negotiation, reality changes. Once that erection starts to sprout, all self-enforced limits fly out the window. 

I wonder if that's happening with the Yankees.

Case in point, Giancarlo Stanton. Not long ago, the notion of trading for Stanton would be a punch line. As we've been told a thousand times, the Yankees are committed to shrinking payroll below the horrible, mind-numbing luxury tax cap. We've been hearing about this since 2011 - waiting to escape the crushing burden of A-Rod's contract. We let Robbie Cano jog off to Seattle. We passed on multiple free agents. The Marlins are lashed to Stanton for $285 million - $32 million a season at times - through 2028, and that's only five years before the asteroid. No way we'd take on such a killer contract, right? That's doomsday, folks. It would kill us, right? We all know this, right? 

And yet, according to the little birdies, the Empire recently checked in with Miami, pondering a deal. Insane, right? Crazy. Of course, pondering a deal is not making a deal. It's just coffee talk, right? One can chalk a phone call off to due diligence, right? But, but, but... remember our $141,000 house? 

Absurdity happens in tiny, M&M-sized increments. We invade Iraq in 2004, and guess what: We're still there. Trump is a joke, and guess what: He's President. Not long ago, Blake Rutherford was the jewel of the Yankee lower farms, an untouchable. Now, he's gone, and we got a .205 hitter, a fading closer and a middle innings bullpen lug nut. I can't help but believe that if Chicago straight-up proposed that deal a month ago, we'd have laughed. Guess what: It's now reality. Everything just oozed in on the fog.

So, now we wait for the verdict on Sonny Koufax Gray. You can feel the uptick in the NY tabloids, unable to conceal their proudly bursting erections. They want a deal, need a deal, HAVE TO HAVE A DEAL. If it means giving up Jorge Mateo, who on the editorial staff of the NY Post gives a shit? Nine out of 10 Yankee fans have never heard of Mateo - and lately, all they've heard has been about the greatness of Sonny Koufax Gray.  Here's "Seven mid-tier prospects who could get traded." Not enough? Here's the case for the Yankees being the 2015 Toronto Blue Jays (getting Price and Tulowitzki) at the deadline. (And, by the way, Toronto is still paying for those deals.) 

You can feel it happening. Today, we absolutely would never trade Clint Frazier - ever, no matter what. But if he goes 0-for-10, well - that's different. Reality changes when you breathe that wonderful fog. I'm not saying the Yankees will deal Frazier - clearly a fan fave right now - but the devil in any trades will be in the details. And neither the Yankee-owned media nor the buy-out obsessed print outlets will sweat those details. They can already taste it, and who cares about long-term strategies? The asteroid will take care of long-term strategies, right? Quick, Miss Bixley, get Miami on the line! I got a rocket in my pants! Hello, Marlins? Whaddaya want...