Brian Cashman heads to GM meetings with smaller shopping list

When Brian Cashman began planning for the 2015 season, the task didn't just appear daunting.

It was.

"We enter 2016 with a much stronger roster than we entered 2015 at this time," Cashman said by phone Saturday, two days before the general managers' meetings in Boca Raton, Florida. "Last year we were looking for a third baseman, a shortstop, we were looking for a righthanded-hitting outfielder, looking to shore up our starting pitching, we needed a closer, we were hoping our catcher [Brian McCann] could have a comeback season, [hoping] our DH [Alex Rodriguez] could come back from suspension, hoping our first baseman [Mark Teixeira] could come back healthy, we weren't sure on Carlos Beltran."

Cashman paused.

"We had a ton of stuff all over the diamond," he said. "That's not as much the case now, clearly."

That doesn't mean the 2016 Yankees are a finished product -- far from it -- but there are significantly fewer holes, particularly in the infield.

But second base is a question and there still are age and injury concerns -- especially in the outfield and starting rotation.

"This year we have most of the pieces in place; it's a question of can you improve on the pieces you've got?" Cashman said. "Do you use prospects to shore up other areas? Do you trade existing pieces to shore up the roster? Do you mix and match that way?"

The Yankees had only three players eligible for free agency: lefthander Chris Capuano, infielder Stephen Drew and outfielder Chris Young. Young is the most likely of the trio to return -- though far from a certainty -- as the club will be in the market for outfield depth.

Cashman, declining to specify for obvious reasons, said he has received his 2016 budget from managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner and does not feel constrained in what he has available to spend.

There has been no indication that the Yankees will break from Steinbrenner's mostly-adhered-to organizational mandate of recent years to avoid big-money, multiyear contracts (Jacoby Ellsbury's seven-year, $153-million deal and Masahiro Tanaka's seven-year, $155-million deal are notable exceptions).

That means top free agents such as David Price, Jordan Zimmermann, Zack Greinke and Yoenis Cespedes are not likely to be Bronx-bound this offseason.

Royals second baseman Ben Zobrist, whom Cashman tried to obtain at the trade deadline, and Orioles lefthander Wei-Yin Chen, whom the Yankees are familiar with and have liked over the years, are among the mid-level free agents who could be in play for the Yankees.

Like last offseason, the most significant upgrades to the roster might come via the trade market. Cashman swung a trade for lefthander Justin Wilson, who became one of Joe Girardi's most dependable relievers, during last year's GM meetings in Phoenix. Several weeks later, shortstop Didi Gregorius and righthander Nathan Eovaldi arrived in separate deals.

While the GM meetings get plenty of attention, Cashman said the groundwork for those kinds of trades already has been undertaken.

"Getting everyone in a group is not as necessary," Cashman said. "It will generate some media, but I don't necessarily believe you need to fly in to get things accomplished . . . The bottom line is I have a ton of conversations that are ongoing. Whether they lead anywhere, I couldn't say."

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.