A win in February is just as important as a win in March. So what about Billy McKinney?

In the winter of 2015, 19-year-old OF Billy McKinney ranked 83rd on Baseball America's Top 100 prospects list. He was considered untouchable, one of the gems of the Oakland farm system.

The A's had chosen him in the first round of the 2013 draft, paid him $1.8 million and moved him steadily through the system. Then Billy Beane, fresh from his Brad Pitt in Moneyball moment in Hollwyood, got himself a whopping erection over the chance of making a post-season. So he did what most middle-aged guys do: He touched an untouchable part.. 

Beane dealt McKinney to the Cubs in a big package for Jeff Samardzja and Jason Hammel. It was one of those deals that have prospect-huggers tearing out their hair, and Addison Russell - another A's kid in the deal - helped Chicago win the World Series. In mid 2015, at age 20, McKinney was holding his own at Double A - hitting .285 - when he fouled a ball off his knee and hairline fractured a bone. It ended not only his season - but his time in the Baseball America Top 100.

He floundered in early 2016 and was dealt to the Yankees as part of the Aroldis Chapman package, when Theo Epstein suffered his own career priapism. At Trenton, McKinney continued to flounder (hitting .234) looking like another super former "can't miss" untouchable, the kind that populates every farm system. (Estevan Florial, your chariot is waiting.)

Last year, around now, something changed. McKinney came to spring training on a last-minute invite, and he raked. He hasn't stopped. He hit .400 with 3 HRs in the Grapefruit League, stayed strong in Trenton, won a promotion to Scranton, and hit .306 with 10 HR in 220 plate appearances. Three months ago, he was among the Arizona Fall League leaders in RBIs. Since rehabbing the knee, McKinney has become the hitter of his early projections. He's now 23 and plays 1B as well as OF - utility flexibility - and he's one of the most intriguing stories in the Yankee system.

Yesterday, McKinney surely made an impact on the brass, if only because his late game homer broke a tie and avoided extra innings, getting everybody back to Tampa in time for happy hour. What it won't do is keep him on the opening day roster. Even if Greg Bird gets hurt - (how unlikely is that!) - McKinney surely will still start 2018 in Scranton. Still, he's one of Cashman's signature projects - the ex-top prospect who's hit rough times and needs a reset. The strategy brought us Didi Gregorius and Aaron Hicks, and yesterday it showed up in another kid - Dillon Tate, the former top pick, obtained for Carlos Beltran, who threw two innings and gave up a run.

For whatever it's worth, I like the strategy, especially if the door swings both ways. It's nice to give second chances to the Billy McKinneys. But the key to last year was showing faith in Aaron Judge after a crappy 2016 (and keeping Gary Sanchez a year earlier, after he needed an attitude adjustment.) This spring, Tyler Wade and Tyler Austin are returning from dud seasons. If they play well, let's hope they make the team rather than the Chace Petersons or Danny Espinosas, the kind of players (Pete Kozma, Brendan Ryan, et al) the Yankees have traditionally favored.

If McKinney hits at Scranton, he could be part of a July deal that would have me - the prospect-hugger - yanking out my hair. (I still suffer from PTSD over deals 30 years ago.) But the more McKinney hits, the better chance we have of obtaining a Bumgarner or Donaldson for the stretch. And if Bird goes down in June, McKinney - a LH bat - could become the most important prospect in our system.

This is, of course, merely another fantasy of spring. It's snowing in Syracuse, but I'm ready for shorts and sandals - already dreaming of July.