Yankees can't afford to make 2021 trade mistake again with Kyle Tucker, Cody Bellinger

Maybe the Houston Astros and Jim Crane were simply never going to let Kyle Tucker go to the Yankees, taking the reins time and again to block their American League rivals from getting any better.

It does make sense. The 'Stros are reloading on a budget, but not rebuilding. If they facilitated a Yankees World Series, that ornery fan base would never forgive Crane and Dana Brown. But, by the same token, the Yankees can't afford to respond to the Astros drawing a line in the sand by relenting, making Houston's life better, and saddling their own payroll with a pair of lesser options.

Revenge is a dish best served cold. Revenge isn't a dish best served paired with $55 million worth of regressing baseball players.

While the Yankees and Cody Bellinger have always been a natural fit, they cannot afford to put the finishing touches on a Belli deal before a Tucker trade is decided. If Tucker's going to Chicago, the Cubs will have to pony up the maximum for a one-year rental (and, in fairness, it does seem like they're prepared to do that, according to insider Bruce Levine).

But if the Yankees relieve them of Bellinger's salary before they're officially out on Tucker, they'll be pulling off the same bit of nonsense they did when they took on Josh Donaldson and allowed the Twins to steal Carlos Correa. That worked out nicely.

Yankees could pave Cubs' path to Kyle Tucker by trading for Cody Bellinger -- just like Josh Donaldson and Carlos Correa

Look. It's possible the Yankees were never in on Tucker in the first place. Nobody's in Crane's head. No one knows what he would or wouldn't allow. Sometimes he listens to Jeff Bagwell. Sometimes he doesn't. The Rosenthal column might've been wish-casting. The Jack Curry buzz might've been a smokescreen.

If Tucker was never a real option, there's nothing we can do to maneuver the order of operations; Bellinger would feel like an inevitability.

But Alex Bregman doesn't have to be. As the ex-Astro's market winds down in free agency, Houston, the Yankees, and Red Sox all seem to be very much involved. He'd be a perfect fit in Boston's ballpark. We already know what he'd do with the Crawford Boxes. Yankee Stadium? Not so much.

As painful as it would be to watch him thumping the Green Monster constantly, that's not a good enough reason to pay him $30 million/year to struggle to find the seats beyond your spacious left field.

This process, which began with so much excitement, could end with either two albatrosses on the Yankees or Bregman punishing them nightly with a Boston B on his cap. At that point, their best hope will be Tucker disliking Chicago and reopening his recruitment next winter.

What a dream!