Jack Curry's 'crumb' gets Yankees fans overly excited in Yoshinobu Yamamoto chase

If there's one insider who knows the New York Yankees' inner workings, it's Jack Curry. If he mentions a name in passing, there's a good chance the Yankees have already had extensive conversations about said player -- think Andrew Benintendi. If he's enthusiastic about the front office's chances to land one of their targets, there's a reason behind it. He wasn't just spouting off about how the Yankees "knew" they had to get a Juan Soto deal done. He was dead right, and that sentiment clearly reflected the organization's belief, considering the speed at which the trade developed and the package they ultimately surrendered to get it done.

All of this to say ... no, the Yankees have not won the Yoshinobu Yamamoto sweepstakes. It isn't over. But considering Curry felt compelled to drop a "crumb" to his followers on Monday after the team met with him, New York's braintrust clearly feels as if things went well.

Well enough to use a Curry tweet, something all fans can read the subtext behind by now.

Hopefully, Yamamoto doesn't feel the same way about leaks -- even crumb leaks -- as his fellow countryman Shohei Ohtani. According to someone with "knowledge" of New York's pursuit, Monday's meeting did nothing to change the optimism in the room (and, again, if that didn't mean something, Curry wouldn't tweet it).

Jack Curry's sources say Yankees feel optimistic about their Yoshinobu Yamamoto pursuit

It's not a done deal. It isn't. Don't order your custom shirseys. The Los Angeles Dodgers could hear of the Yankees' optimism and decide to blow them out of the water to complete their billion-dollar offseason. So could Steve Cohen. But something gave the Yankees enough joy on Monday that they decided to give Curry the greenlight to spill his crumbs in the Twitter wilderness. As silly as it is to say out loud, that's actually a crucial moment in the chase (and Curry's next appearance on Yankees Hot Stove will only further the narrative).

At the Winter Meetings, the Yankees were telling teams they were reportedly "way ahead of the pack" on Yamamoto. The Mets flew to Japan to meet with the pitcher and his family in their attempt to level the playing field. Armed with that knowledge, the Yankees reentered the room with the right-hander on Monday and came away feeling even more optimistic. Curry was authorized to say as much.

Plenty more snags could arrive before the finish line is crossed, but the Yankees have sanctioned a fairly significant breadcrumb on Monday afternoon. Only a few more days remain before we learn whether they were overconfident, or if they already knew the conclusion.

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