Will the Yankees really sit out a dead auction for Bryce Harper?

This idiotic stalemate - entering yet another month - has become a national disgrace. Talks are going nowhere. Nobody is getting paid. How much longer can this embarrassment - this stain upon our cultural identity - continue? On the news, some pundits are saying February, even March - long enough to permanently undermine the integrity of our system. Haven't we all seen enough? HAVEN'T WE ALL SEEN ENOUGH?

Of course, I'm referring to the so-called "free market" auctions for Manny Machado and Bryce Harper.

Once viewed as vanguards of a new salary structure, both have been systematically ghosted by big market teams, most notably the Yankees. And the word being increasingly whispered is "collusion."  

Specifically, I'm targeting Harper, who at age 26 was projected to be the most sought-after free agent in modern history. After the Dodgers yesterday signed a middling, nothingburger outfielder, reports now say Harper's "market" boils down to Washington and/or Philadelphia. One is an insult - that he should stay with a team he's already decided to leave. The other is Philadelphia.

Listen: The war between owners and the owned is never a fair fight. When a battle pits billionaires against millionaires, you don't need a betting line. But I have to believe that, somewhere down the road, a federal judge will pass harsh judgement on the winter of 2018-19, as the courts did during the collusion trials of the 1980s. Either way, the end game here won't be pretty. Remember the  peace that came about during the last labor negotiations? Machado and Harper could become tag lines for a future strike. (Okay, players union, here's your chant, free of charge: "Manny and Bryce, Don't lie to us twice!")  

But wait! Here is a chance for the Yankees to 1) break the current stalemate, 2) save MLB from a future shutdown and 3) win the 2019 AL East. In the next few days, Hal Steinbrenner should parachute into negotiations, slap down a big-ass $20-$25 million one-year-deal with a beer bucket full of options and incentives, and bring Harper to New York, where he has always been destined to play.

Stick him in left field and let the fates determine the future of Clint Frazier and Brett Gardner (both of whom will log plenty of time anyway.) 

Yesterday, I moaned and bellowed about signing Dallas Keuchel. Let me be clear: Keuchel should be Yankee Target No. 1. But he will demand a long-term deal, and Harper - staring at the choice between herpes and chlamydia - might just be pissed off enough to accept the once-in-a-lifetime challenge of winning over NYC. 

Because that's what I believe will happen. If Harper comes to the Yankees, I think he - along with Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Miguel Andujar - will become part of a legendary lineup, a modern day Murderers Row. Either way, the Yankees should not be done spending this winter. Remember: They spent last year being cheap, all to make a big splash this offseason. They promised us more than DJ LeMahieu and Adam Ottavino. It's time to step up. This disgraceful stalemate must end.