As the first MLB team to stream games on Amazon, the Yankees will need a marquee pitcher next year

Lost amid this week's back-flow of free agent blurbs and belches was news that the 2020 Death Star will become the first MLB franchise to stream regular games on Amazon Home Video. This could be the Yankees' first cash cow advantage since Old George birthed the YES Network in 1999, letting the team print money for every top free agent (Mike Mussina, Jason Giambi, etc.) in captivity.

The question is whether this golden shower will propel Mr. Austerity, the penny-pinching Hal Steinbrenner, to spend what it takes to sign an ace... in this case, Gerrit Cole.

Thus far, we at IT IS HIGH have refused to buy the Yankee narrative of being "all in" on Cole, who could cost the team $300 million. Hal's tightwad record suggests he'll never spend that kind of money on an employee. It's one thing to dine with a player and play footsie beneath the table. It's another to put down actual money and find a hotel room. 

But in the pursuit of Cole, at least three mitigating elements are worth considering:

1. He is everything the team currently lacks. More than anything, the Yankees need an ace pitcher. They have a lineup and bullpen. But if they must trade for a top starter, they will shred that roster. Cole can be had for money - just money. He is a team leader. He is hungry for a ring. He can throw 200 innings and start game one of a series. If they sign him, they become the team to beat. If they sign him, a disillusioned Boston might do something stupid, like trading Mookie Betts. If they sign him, they can trade for whatever else they need. If they sign him, they are lock for the 2020 post-season.

2. The Amazon deal is emerging, and the Mets may have a new owner. Apparently, the 2019 Yankees' ratings on YES plummeted by 17 percent - mostly because thinking human beings want nothing to do with cable TV. This new Amazon arrangement will let people watch games on laptops and phones - for a price, of course. Eventually, this will cover all MLB teams, but the Yankees - as majority owners of YES - have a head start. That should mean a bump in revenues. What better way to cement their on-line presence than by showcasing the best team in baseball?

3. Without a new star, the Yankees will lose New York. Look at the Tabloid Covers race on the left of this page. Over the last two years, the Yankees have easily dominated the back pages, which Old George once considered the real  currency of sports. But as the Mets made a brief pennant run, they actually overtook the Yankees for a few weeks in tabloid covers. Had they made the post-season, the Mets would probably have won the year. Now, with a potential new owner, they could easily bypass a do-nothing Yankee franchise in 2020. The Yankees' once-bright star of Giancarlo Stanton is now nearly a joke, Aaron Judge cannot stay on the field enough to carry the team, Gleyber Torres will be challenged to play SS, and Masahiro Tanaka will be recovering from off-season surgery. Who becomes the marquee Yankee? We love DJ LeMahieu, but does he appear on the program cover?

Listen: Unless the Yankees make a spectacular move, they will lose New York next year. 

As stated above, I'm still not buying the idea that the Yankees will truly be bidders in the Gerrit Cole auction. It's easy to flirt, much harder to find the hotel room key. But there are plenty of reasons for the Yankees to want Cole. Does Hal simply love his money too much to really go "all in?"