In the White Sox tonight, the Yankees confront Hal Steinbrenner's greatest sin

In February of 2015, as spring camps opened nationwide, most of baseball accepted one inevitability:  

The Yankees would outbid everyone for 19-year-old Yoan Moncada, the best Cuban prospect in years, who had emigrated to Florida and won free-agency. 

It seemed a done deal, if only because of the sense it made. The Yankees' farm system was depleted, they'd finished another dismal year in second place, they desperately needed an emerging star, and Moncada came with no strings attached, aside from the money, in which the Yankee ownership regularly bathed.

Then - out from under Hal Steinbrenner's sunscreen-buttered nose - Boston signed him.

They paid a signing bonus of $31.5 million, with another $31.5 million in luxury taxes - an outlay that the Yankee brain trust decried as excessive. How dare Boston fritter away such money! The Yankees had held private workouts with Moncada and were considered frontrunners in the bidding. They capped their offer at $25 million and refused to budge - similar to what they did two years earlier with Robinson Cano, before he left for Seattle. 

That's when we began calling Hal Steinbrenner "Food Stamps" and "Haligator Arms." Hal had his signature strategy: Talk up the bidding, assure Yankee fans he was willing to spend, then drop out at the last minute and whine about the ridiculous price tag. (Later, the Yankees would suggest that Jessica Steinbrenner's ex-husband, Felix Lopez, somehow botched the Moncada negotiations. Nobody wanted the blame.)

Today, we can look at Cano and congratulate ourselves on not being saddled with  his contract. (Instead, we have Giancarlo's!)  But it's worth noting that in 2014, the year after Robbie walked - or jogged - our second-baseman became Brian Roberts, who hit 5 HRs and batted .237. A lineup with Cano might have won a world series, but I guess we'll never know, eh? "Food Stamps" was earning his nickname.

Moncada immediately became Boston's top prospect and a hot commodity - he was  main plank in the 2016 deal that brought future Cy Young winner Chris Sale - and a 2018 world series ring - to the Redsocks. 

Even now, Redsock fans believe Sale will return in September and pitch Boston to a championship. We'll see about that. But Sale - a bona fide Yankee killer - led Boston to its fourth world championship in this millennium, and we have nothing to show since 2009... aside from Hal's pulled-out pants pockets when he poormouths about luxury taxes. 

Tonight, the Yankees face Moncada - one of baseball's best 3B - who is hitting .285 with 5 HR and 25 RBIs. (Aaron Judge, the Yankee team leader, also has 25.) 

Close your eyes, and you can see the last six crapola years hinging on Food Stamps' refusal to match and beat the Redsocks' bid. How much money have the Yankees squandered on bad deals - Hicks, Stanton, Ellsbury, et al - since they refused to go the extra mile?

Boston has a ring. Yankee fans? We can celebrate the Haligator's frugality. What a thrill.