LAS VEGAS — Just because Brian Cashman has not dished out big bucks to a reliever since 2019 does not mean he is against doing so, according to the Yankees general manager.
That may be put to the test in the coming weeks in the case of David Bednar.
If the closer declines the $23.15 million qualifying offer that the Yankees extended to him by next Tuesday’s deadline (which appears more likely than not), Bednar will hit the open market primed for a payday as one of the top free-agent relievers.
And while there is nothing stopping the Yankees from negotiating a multi-year deal with Bednar before then – Cashman would not say if the two sides were talking about it – they may soon have to put their money where their mouth is in order to address one of their biggest needs this offseason.
“I’ve done it before, I’m not afraid to do it,” Cashman said at the GM meetings when asked about spending big on a reliever. “It just comes down to allocation of resources and the opportunity, what’s in front of you and how realistic it is, and do we like it enough to play those numbers and all that stuff. But I’m not opposed to putting numbers on players at whatever position.”
The Yankees have not put the kind of numbers that Bednar will get on a reliever since 2019, when they signed Zack Britton to a three-year, $39 million deal and added an extra year and $18 million to the five-year, $86 million pact Aroldis Chapman signed ahead of the 2017 campaign.
Neither deal ended well for the Yankees.
This time around, Cashman has said he is working under a budget from Hal Steinbrenner that he would not define.
But if the Yankees were able to offer Bednar the $23.15 million for one year (which would be the highest average annual value for any reliever), conceivably they should be able to fit in a multiyear deal, given that the AAV would likely be lower.
Former Yankees closer Devin Williams got three years and $51 million from the Mets last winter, which would seem to be in the neighborhood of what Bednar could land in free agency this offseason.
That the Yankees already know he can handle the bright lights of New York should make them more comfortable handing out that kind of money to a 32-year-old reliever.
“Listen, we dropped a big qualifying number on him — that factored [in] a lot,” Cashman said. “He’s a cool customer. From what I understand, even though I’m not in the bullpen, obviously, from what I hear from everybody involved — we’ve been very lucky over the course of time for the most part to have somebody with a strong presence and great leadership to lead out there, and he checked all those boxes along with the performance.
“So I’ve had some good additions, I’ve had some not-so-good additions. He’s been a good addition so far, and hopefully we find a way to keep him so I can worry about surrounding him with more quality individuals that our manager can turn to late in the game to try to close things out.”
Since Chapman and Britton left, the Yankees have either traded for established closers (Bednar, Williams) or found them through reclamation projects (Clay Holmes, Luke Weaver).
They may not have the luxury to try the latter at this point, given that lefty setup man Brent Headrick is the only full-time member of the 2026 bullpen guaranteed to return in 2027.
The other top reliever on the market is former Padres lefty Adrian Morejon, but he figures to be more expensive than Bednar and would also cost the Yankees draft-pick compensation and international bonus pool money because of the qualifying offer attached to him.
“[The bullpen] is probably our biggest need because we have so [many] vacancies of certainly important people that did a great job for us,” Cashman said, with Tim Hill and Paul Blackburn both free agents, while Fernando Cruz is trying to pitch through a partially torn UCL.
“Doesn’t mean we don’t have answers from within that can handle it somehow, some way. But you’re always wondering. You don’t know. There’s no certainty until you play it out and let it play out. So if I can pull down via trade or free agency some individuals that make you sleep better at night, even though bullpens are volatile regardless, that would be a priority for me.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
