The Yankees’ pursuit for bullpen help likely got more expensive Saturday.
With lefty Brett Cecil going to St. Louis for a reported four-year, $30.5 million deal, it has become clear early in the offseason that the market is going to be highly competitive for relief pitchers.
One of the primary goals in The Bronx is to make an effort to bring back Aroldis Chapman as their closer, but they also are looking for more depth, and Saturday proved they are not alone.
And with the Winter Meetings little more than two weeks away, the market for other positions should take shape quickly, as well.
With Brian McCann now in Houston — and two more pitching prospects in the minors for the Yankees — general manager Brian Cashman has said he also is looking to add a bat — but it doesn’t necessarily have to come through free agency.
Cashman said this week there has been interest in Brett Gardner — whose name always seems to surface this time of year — as well as Chase Headley.
“Gardner is our everyday left fielder and Headley is our everyday third baseman, unless trade opportunities provide themselves to put me in a position to consider making a move,’’ Cashman said. “But we have our everyday guys there. But I am open-minded to listen on everybody and anybody for the most part, so we will see how the winter shapes out.”
He already has received some inquiries on both players this offseason.
“I have had my fair share of hits on some of those names,” Cashman said. “They are still here and here for a reason, but we will see.”
Gardner frequently has been a topic of trade talk. He is due $24 million over the next two seasons, with a $12.5 million team option for 2019. Headley could be more difficult to move, with $26 million coming to him over the next two years and diminishing results — though he did play significantly better after a horrific first month.
Cashman has said repeatedly he has no intention of trading the haul he received from the flurry of moves the Yankees made at the deadline, when they restocked their system by shipping out Chapman, Andrew Miller and Carlos Beltran.
So they aren’t looking to move a handful of prospects for Chris Sale of the White Sox or Chris Archer of the Rays, but they do have more money to play with in the wake of McCann going to the Astros, and Gardner and Headley wouldn’t seem to fit in the team’s long-term plans now that the Yankees are invested in a youth movement.
The youth movement looks even better after Saturday, when 19-year-old Gleyber Torres was named MVP of the Arizona Fall League. He was the youngest player in the league this season and the youngest ever to win the award. Greg Bird also won it in 2014, as did Eric Duncan in 2005. Torres was the key piece from the Cubs in the deal that sent Chapman to Chicago in July. He is expected to start next season with Double-A Trenton.