This might be the most unusual Yankee offseason ever, at least by one measure – the Yanks, long known for their pursuit of free agents during winter spending sprees, have not signed a single major-league free agent so far.
They’ve never gone a whole winter without signing one, according to research by multiple media outlets, since free agency started in 1975. They are the only big-league team this winter not to sign one and it certainly seems unlikely anything changes.
What does it mean? “It means that our exploration of talent acquisition in the winter of 2015-16 led us more into the trade market than the free-agent market,” GM Brian Cashman said in a telephone interview.