Just a few days removed from Trent Grisham’s acceptance of the one-year, $22.025 million qualifying offer, Brian Cashman insisted that the Yankees still have the financial resources needed to fill out their roster this offseason.
“Yes,” Cashman said Thursday night in New York City when asked about the subject.
The general manager, who was participating in the annual Covenant House Sleep Out, which raises awareness of young people facing homelessness, spoke with the Yankees’ projected competitive balance tax payroll at $281 million for 2026, according to Cot’s Contracts. That includes Grisham’s qualifying offer, Ryan Yarbrough’s yet-to-be-announced one-year, $2.5 million deal, and the Bombers’ decision to exercise Tim Hill’s $3 million club option for next season.
“I think we’re in a good spot,” Cashman said. “The job right now is to find out what’s available, and those all have different price points.”
The second-highest threshold for competitive balance tax penalties is $284 million next season, while the highest threshold is $304 million. Meanwhile, Hal Steinbrenner, expected to speak with reporters next week, has called $300 million payrolls “unsustainable” despite exceeding that figure in each of the last two seasons.
However, with the Yankees still prioritizing a reunion with Cody Bellinger — Cashman wasn’t shy about that on Thursday — and standing to benefit from the addition of a frontline starter, as well as bullpen and bench help, staying under $300 million won’t be easy.
“I think it could go both ways,” Cashman said. “So it just depends on how things shake out and what opportunities present themselves.”
Cashman added, “I’m good at spending money,” and said that he has “not necessarily” been given a set budget from Steinbrenner.
With the Yankees shopping for plenty of pieces before the holidays, Cashman said that he spoke to agent Scott Boras about Bellinger and Japanese ace Tatsuya Imai on Wednesday. He also talked to Casey Close, another agent, about Kyle Tucker, Paul Goldschmidt and Michael King on Thursday. Cashman mentioned that Close reps Kyle Schwarber as well.
While there are some intriguing — and expensive — names there, teams are still doing due diligence at this point in the offseason, and Cashman has chatted with other agents, as well as opposing teams, about potential acquisitions.
“We’re certainly engaging all these players in the marketplace and trying to find out what the cost of acquisition is and then see how it would fit for us,” Cashman said, noting cheaper additions could come via trade if the Yankees part with prospects or some of their younger major leaguers.
For now, the Yankees can shed some payroll on Friday, as the tender deadline is at 8 p.m. Mark Leiter Jr., projected to earn $3 million in arbitration, Ian Hamilton ($941,000), Jake Cousins ($841,000) and Scott Effross ($800,000) are all non-tender candidates.
Cashman said he knows what decisions the Yankees intend to make ahead of the deadline, but he was also discussing potential deals with other clubs.
