Are We Headed for Classic Yankees, Red Sox Bidding War over Yoan Moncada?

Think of the New York Yankees/Boston Red Sox rivalry as a bomb with an unlit fuse. And think of Yoan Moncada as a match.

Make no mistake, Boston and New York never stop despising each other. But lately there hasn't been much oomph behind the historic feud.

The Yankees finished Derek Jeter's farewell season in a distant, disappointing second place in the American League East, while the Red Sox, one season removed from a Commissioner's Trophy, dropped to dead last.

In fact, it's been five years since the Yankees and Red Sox owned the top two spots in the division, and seven years since they engaged in an honest-to-goodness pennant race.

It's also been a while since Boston and New York entered into a bidding war. Offseason battles between the Bombers and their Beantown foil over marquee free agents and trade targets—Curt Schilling, Johnny Damon, Alex Rodriguez—used to be commonplace. 

Lately? Not so much.

Moncada could change all of that. Here's the tweet, from FanGraphs' Kiley McDaniel, that set the hot stove ablaze:

The 19-year-old Cuban phenom, touted as a potential five-tool talent, isn't technically available yet.

Moncada was given permission by the Cuban government to leave the country and pursue a career in Major League Baseball in June, per Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com, but is still awaiting clearance from the United States' Office of Foreign Assets Control, as MLB.com's Quinn Roberts notes. 

If and when his services are dangled, the young switch-hitter will garner gobs of interest.

He worked out for 60-70 scouts in Guatemala in November and, according to MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo, "All reports point to the teenaged infielder being as good as advertised."

Keith Srakocic/Associated Press

"He's worth going way over your international spending pool, in my opinion," an unnamed scouting director told Mayo after the workout. "This game is about talent, and Moncada is the kind of talent worth the investment."

What kind of investment? Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan's sources tell him Moncada could command a bonus in the $30-$40 million range. That's in keeping with the guaranteed money the Los Angeles Dodgers tossed at Yasiel Puig ($42 million) and far less than Boston handed Rusney Castillo ($72.5 million).

But, as Passan explains, Moncado's actual cost will go beyond what he's paid:

"

Under baseball’s current collective-bargaining agreement, international free agents under 23 years old with fewer than five years’ experience in a professional league fall under the purview of MLB’s international bonus pool. Meaning for every dollar a team goes beyond its allotted budget to sign international amateurs—the highest this season is Houston with $4.94 million—it must pay a 100 percent tax. On top of that, if a team goes 15 percent beyond its pool, it cannot spend more than $300,000 on an international amateur for the next two signing periods.

"

Put simply: Whatever a team gives to Moncada, it'll shell out the same amount in penalties. So $30 million becomes $60 million, $40 million becomes $80 million, etc.

Bottom line: We're talking big, big money here, especially for a kid who's 16 months away from legally buying a beer on American soil. 

Which brings us back to the Red Sox and Yankees.

Boston has already made a couple of free-agent splashes to upgrade its offense, inking third baseman Pablo Sandoval and shortstop Hanley Ramirez, whom the team is penciling in as its new left fielder. 

New York, meanwhile, has shown unusual financial restraint, steering clear of the offseason's expensive prizes and opting for less sexy deals like re-upping infielders Chase Headley and Stephen Drew.

But these are the Yankees we're talking about, owners of baseball's second-highest payroll and a sleeping giant if ever there was one. Will Moncada be the player to roust them?

Or will they stand by and watch their divisional nemesis swoop in and nab a player Passan describes as a "fast-twitch-muscled, movie-star-looking bundle of talent..."?

Oh, sure, New York and Boston aren't the only squads in the picture. Bleacher Report's Zachary D. Rymer recently listed a litany of potential Moncada suitors including, among others, the Los Angeles Angels, San Francisco Giants and dark-horse Miami Marlins (hey, it could happen). 

Let's get real, though. The Yankees and Red Sox are the front-runners in what figures to be an epic bidding war. 

And that feels completely right.