Excuse me if we've heard this before, but the Yankees supposedly are a lock to sign the top international prospect

Well, here we go again...?

Last year it was Jasson Dominiquez - aka "The Martian" - an 18-year-old, centerfield phenom whose videos evoked comparisons to Mickey Mantle and Mike Trout. Dominiquez looked incredible, surpassing all expectations...  and then he started playing in games. 

He hit .256 with 5 HR in the Florida dirt league. It's not that he's a bust - it's way too early for catcalls - let's just say his stock has mirrored Biden's poll numbers. After two years as the Yankees No. 1 prospect, he's now ranked third. He's supposedly grown "stockier" - hmm - than the lithe, Marvel superhuman we were promised. For now, his greatest achievement remains the $5.1 million bonus, biggest in Yankee history. "Stockier?" Hmm... didn't they say that about Jesus Montero? 

On that note, how should we digest the latest "news" within the Yankee echo chamber: That the Death Barge has an inside track on Broderick Arias, a 17-year-old Dominican shortstop who is being compared to Wander Franco. (Note: The new hype is to compare somebody to a star; I mean, theoretically, you can compare ME to Wander Franco... though Betty White would be closer.) Arias is a 6'1" switch-hitter with power, speed, yatta-yatta, who technically cannot sign with anybody until January. Supposedly, the Yankees have been courting this guy for months - I know what you're thinking; let's not be cynical. There's nothing unethical about wowing a 16-year-old. Maybe the Yankees just employ good-hearted scouts - father figures, so adorable that the kid and his family pledged their souls to the Yankees without ever thinking of money? 

Either way, let's hope the Cone of Inaccessibility they threw over the kid survives the alternative offers that will come between now and January. 

Once (that is, if) he's signed, I say we call him - drum roll, please - The Venusian!"

Apparently, the Yankees are playing a strategy: Shoot the moon on Arias - spend almost all of their allotted international bonus money in one massive ejaculation, then nickel-and-dime the lesser prospects. Let's never forget that Jose Altuve signed with Houston for $15,000. And don't get me wrong: I'm not trashing this plan. At least, they have one.

Whatever happens, Arias might be our last big Latino signing under the current system. The upcoming Players Union agreement will almost surely include an international free agent draft - eliminating yet another of the Yankees' financial advantages. An unanswered question - to me, anyway - is whether this looming international draft will be separate from the regular draft in June. If so, last-place teams would get twice the advantage, and the Yankees - in their quest to always contend - will slide deeper into the bog. 

Let's hope they merge the drafts, rather than let the worst teams draft first twice. I mean, what an incentive to tank! Come in last two years straight, and you'd have four No. 1 picks in your system. Imagine: An A-Rod, a Bryce Harper, a Wander Franco and a Ronald Acuna Jr. Yikes. Boston is already licking its chops. 

But getting back to Arias... It's nice to hear the Yankees have an inside track, but don't get comfy. Who can forget Yoan Moncada, who was a certain future Yankee, until the Redsocks outbid us by $30 million. They turned Moncada into Chris Sale and won a ring. Meanwhile, Felix Lopez, the Steinbrenner in-law who was supposed to run the Moncada deal, got jettisoned. He's no longer an in-law or listed on the masthead. Love and baseball, eh?

So, whoever out there who is running this Arias deal: Between now and January, don't skimp on the tacos. You gotta keep that kid happy. I hear he's the next Wander Franco. Venus and Mars, baby. Venus and Mars...