The Yankees — to some degree because they are the Yankees — remain linked to star-level players such as Yu Darvish (via free agency) and Manny Machado (through trade), and as the Giancarlo Stanton acquisition proved once again, never say never with this organization.
But with anything the Yankees try for in 2018, shoehorning dollars into a tight budget is central to decision making. Therefore, Stanton’s surprise addition makes it tougher to launch any further surprises.
Thus, Yankees executives continue to believe the rest of their offseason is about chasing a cost controllable starter such as Pittsburgh’s Gerrit Cole (looking more doubtful now) or Arizona’ Patrick Corbin and/or trying to sign a veteran infielder whose asking price falls in this slow-moving market, a Neil Walker type.