ORLANDO, Fla. – Welcome to MLB’s Winter Meetings, where the Yankees’ objective is clear on Cody Bellinger and foggy on the rest.
Pursuing the versatile, lefty-hitting outfielder is a big part of the pinstriped agenda just outside Disney World, but there’s a need, too, for pitching depth and some complementary right-handed bats.
“You never know,’’ GM Brian Cashman said of finding trade or free agent matches at these meetings. “It’s that time of year, so you hope you run into some things.’’
That said, “I don’t think there’s as deep of a need of a lot of things as there were last year,’’ said Cashman, referencing the pivots after losing free agent Juan Soto to the Mets.
“But there’s things we’re obviously trying to do,’’ Cashman said of acquisitions big and small.
Any larger scale deals by the Yanks might be via trade, due to owner Hal Steinbrenner’s “ideal’’ of a payroll just south of the final luxury tax threshold.
But there are no hard-and-fast budget restrictions, and Cashman will continue to bring expensive player acquisition ideas and recommendations for Steinbrenner’s consideration.
Already, Cashman has spoken to super-agent Scott Boras about his big-name free agent list, including Bellinger.