Yankees fans misreading latest Freddy Peralta rumor is a desperate new low

The Los Angeles Dodgers' stunning, $60 million AAV deal with Kyle Tucker has New York Yankees fans feeling especially depressed, but delusion offers a sanctuary. Rather than sulk about a potential bidding war with the New York Mets for Cody Bellinger, or sigh at the Dodgers doubling down on their usurpation of the Yanks as baseball's king, why not warmly embrace some unrealistic and unfounded Freddy Peralta trade expectations!

We just saw the Boston Red Sox wipe away their Alex Bregman tears and quickly throw $130 million at Ranger Suárez to ease their sorrows (nothing masks sadness like a shopping spree) ... why shouldn't the Yankees follow suit, particularly if Bellinger is about to bounce? With a hearty dose of delusion, one can read a Mark Feinsand report that the Yankees are talking with the Milwaukee Brewers about Peralta and assume that a deal is pretty much finalized! And that's precisely what fans are doing.

Yankees fans are acting like Freddy Peralta is on the way (he's not)

In some ways, you have to admire the hallucinatory optimism from X users like @JosephEsposito0, who embodied Yankees' fans desperation when he interpreted the phrase, "not imminent" as something entirely new and exciting: "It’s interesting that (Feinsand) specified (a deal is) not imminent. Makes it seem like talks could potentially be advancing."

Sorry to break this to you, @JosephEsposito0 (and the Yankees fans you represent), but "not imminent" actually specifically means that talks are not advancing.

And why would they be? Do we think that Brian Cashman is willing to overwhelm the Brewers with a boatload of assets and overpay for Peralta, like the Red Sox just did for Suárez (albeit in free agency)? The Yankees have been painfully frugal and inactive this offseason. It's their new thing. To overextend financially is the greatest sin in the brand new Yankees bible, even if it used to be the franchise's most important impetus.

The philosophy of spending beyond the horizon belongs to the Dodgers now. Andrew Friedman just put his famous quote to good use with the Tucker signing: "If you're always rational about every free agent, you will finish third on every free agent." The modern Yankees might as well have their own version of this quote: "If you're always rational about every free agent, you won't have to pay any of them, leaving plenty of money for stadium renovations."

Will Bellinger be the next Yankees miscue stemming from the above? The Mets now have every reason to go above and beyond Cashman's final offer for Belli. It feels "imminent," but hey, there's always a Peralta trade to fall back on, right?