General Manager Brian Cashman Hints At An Active Offseason For The Yankees

Shortly after the final out of the World Series is made and one team gets to celebrate a championship, general managers get together at a nice resort to start the offseason.

Trades usually are not made but groundwork is mapped out privately and publicly for the general managers.

For Yankees GM Brian Cashman, his words seem pointed in the direction of an active offseason at some point between now and the start of the regular season, which as of now is still March 31. That date is subject to change based on how and when the collective bargaining agreement gets sorted out after its expiration date next month.

Even without knowing what parameters he will be working under Cashman appears eager to make some moves or as he likes to put it “rock-and-roll”, especially when told reporters he has greater authority to spend money after a financially quiet offseason that saw the biggest signings be DJ LeMahieu re-signing for six years and $90 million and Corey Kluber’s one-year, $11 million pact after the former Cy Young Award winner’s Florida workout.

“Do I have a set budget? No. Do I [feel] I have some direction? Yes, and clearly it was mission accomplished from last year, getting under the CBT (Competitive Balance Tax),” Cashman told reporters at the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. “(Payroll is going to have to be higher) because we don’t have a lot of stuff coming off. I have some latitude.” 

What exactly that means is unknown but the whole world knows Cashman is seeking a shortstop in some form. Cashman all but conceded that fact at his post-mortem press conference on the same day last month he announced manager Aaron Boone was coming back.

There are plenty of names to select from the shortstop aisle of the shopping rack.

Cashman could go in the direction of left-handed hitting Corey Seager. He may also select right-handed hitters Carlos Correa or Trevor Story, who are regarded better defensively than Seager. Or he could poach Marcus Semien from Toronto after he hit a career-high 45 homers with several of those coming against Yankee pitching.

Other areas the Yankees might investigate is Starling Marte, especially since Cashman said “maybe center field” and the Yankees were reportedly interested in him in 2020 before Marte went from Arizona to Miami. The maybe comes into play due to Aaron Hicks suffering multiple injuries that required long absences since signing a seven-year, $70 million extension after 2018.

“We’ll explore whatever options might be available to us and obviously we do have Aaron Hicks coming back,” Cashman told reporters. “What that looks like, we’ll see.”

Last season the Yankees began the season with a $197 million payroll and according to projections by Cot’s Contracts, that figure is approximately $210 million before including any external moves and any moves to shed players via trades or non-tendering contracts. Of that money, $96 million is invested in four players – Gerrit Cole, Giancarlo Stanton, Aroldis Chapman and LeMahieu.

Another factor for the Yankees was they stayed below the CBT threshold and going over it this time will not result in any financial penalties no matter how high the spending spree goes for a shortstop, likely a pitcher, perhaps a first baseman and a center fielder.

Recent spending sprees have produced mixed results.

In 2013 after losing Robinson Cano to a 10-year deal with Seattle, the Yankees spent big on Brian McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury, Carlos Beltran and Masahiro Tanaka. That trio played three seasons together before the Yankees realized they needed to integrate some of the young group currently on the team.

In 2008 with the team coming off a non-playoff season for the first time since 1993, transitioning to a new stadium and attempting to fix some shaky clubhouse chemistry, the Yankees spent over $400 million on CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira. That trio helped the Yankees get a title in 2009 and reached the playoffs in the following four seasons with highlights being Sabathia’s complete game in Game 5 of the 2012 ALDS against Baltimore but 2009 remains the only title for the Yankees since 2000.

Since they won four in five seasons, the Red Sox and Giants have combined for seven titles and championship teams get built in various forms such as the Braves, who made a handful of savvy moves for a 51-53 team at the trade deadline and enjoyed the payoff nearly two weeks ago