A KEUCHEL SIGNING IS LOOMING

It only took until June, but Craig Kimbrel finally has a job. Next up....Dallas Keuchel.

Duh, right? That's a no brainer. The only part that leaves us all stumped is which team is going to sign him. If you heard Mark Feinsand on WFAN HERE, he feels confident that the Yankees are the favorites AND that he has no problem shaving his beard. I'm glad to hear he has no problem with it because last time I checked the Yankees haven't changed their policy on that.

But back to the whole "favorites" thing. It's always nice to hear that the Yankees have an edge when it comes to signing players but haven't we learned not to get overly excited and give our hopes up? I can think of two recent players the Yankees were labeled "favorites" for. One was Shohei Ohtani who went to the Angels who isn't mourned for much. But then there is Manny Machado and I'm sure there are still some people out there that are mourning for him.

At the end of the day as much as I would like to sign Keuchel we have to remember that Scott Boras is his agent. He will use the Yankees for leverage if he can and we know he's trying. It's what he does. He's still looking for the multi-year deal for Keuchel but that ship has likely sailed now that we are in June, but that's what Boras does. If he could convince the Yankees to make that multi-year offer then his patience would pay off.

The Yankees are interested, but not as interested as Boras would like them to be. The Yankees have drawn a line in the sand, or so it seems. They aren't willing to go that long. The Yankees are interested at a one-year deal for a pro-rated qualifying offer that was $17.9 million, read more HERE.

That deal would make a ton of sense for the Yankees. At this point, all he costs is money. No prospects, or a draft pick. Madison Bumgarner has a higher price tag, and I'm not sure he's a better upgrade. If the Yankees can get him on a pro-rated it would be well worth it. He may not be the Cy Young pitcher he once was but on a contending team like the Yankees, he's an easy number three starter. We need that right now with Luis Severino still out, CC Sabathia has his own legitimate health concerns and Domingo German will have a limit on his workload.

If Keuchel does want to win again then the Yankees should be his favorite not the Braves, or the Cardinals, Twins or Tampa Bay Rays. But favorites don't always come out to be prize winners.

Keuchel will make his decision soon.....hopefully it is the Yankees.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj