DALLAS — Brian Cashman declined to speak publicly about Max Fried, who agreed to a contract with the Yankees on Tuesday but had not yet officially passed his physical.
On Wednesday morning the Yankees general manager sidestepped queries about Fried because he had not yet signed his contract.
When Fried does ink his eight-year, $218 million pact, the Yankees will have seven capable starting pitchers under contract.
Cashman acknowledged that teams have been approaching him about what has become an area of depth.
“If there are [trade] matches that make sense, then you start to seriously consider it,” Cashman said at the Winter Meetings on Wednesday.
Fried, Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon (entering Year 3 of a six-year, $162 million deal) are not going anywhere.
Nestor Cortes, Clarke Schmidt, Luis Gil and Marcus Stroman have become possible trade chips.
Cortes is entering his walk year and will command around $8 million next season, which is a bargain, particularly in a market that is paying top dollar for starting pitchers.
Schmidt, who is under team control through the 2027 season, and reigning AL Rookie of the Year Gil would be enticing if put on the block.
Stroman, who is due $18 million next season, could fetch some interest after a disappointing season that nonetheless ended with a decent 4.31 ERA.
Cashman argued that the rotation is “already a strength without any imports” and cited minor league arms, too, such as prospect Chase Hampton, whose 2024 was largely lost to injury.
His point: They could have traded from this depth even before landing Fried.
The Yankees had met with Fried during a recent Zoom meeting and came away impressed with the pitcher and person.
Manager Aaron Boone called him “one of the game’s really good pitchers” and was especially excited about the athleticism of the lefty, who has a great pickoff move and three Gold Gloves.
“The No. 1 thing when you get on the bump is how good a pitcher you are,” Boone said of Fried, who owns a 3.07 career ERA in eight seasons. “But those other things — controlling the running game, fielding your position — are all things that are still valuable.”
The Fried addition had nothing to do with uncertainty about Cole’s elbow, Cashman said.
The ace missed nearly the first three months of the season but returned and pitched well.
“We feel he’s plug-and-play moving forward,” Cashman said.
Another trade possibility this winter is moving a catcher in the system.
The Yankees are set up to return Austin Wells and Jose Trevino as their major league catching tandem, but they have three more interesting prospects on the 40-man roster in Carlos Narvaez, J.C. Escarra and Jesus Rodriguez.
Teams do not often carry five catchers on their 40-man rosters.
“Our development system has produced a lot of catching,” Cashman said. “We’ve had a lot of people hit us on our catching. Doesn’t mean we’ll do anything or not.”
Agent Scott Boras was asked whether the Yankees would be a fit for free agent Alex Bregman, who is the top third baseman on the market but was a part of the 2017 Astros.
“That would be up to the organization,” Boras said, “but I think that anybody who wants a Gold Glove third baseman who hits in the middle of your lineup — I don’t know many teams that that doesn’t fit for.”
In what has become a rarity, the Yankees did not lose a prospect in the major league portion of the Rule 5 draft.
In the minor league version, they lost lefty Joel Valdez (to the Reds), lefty Oddanier Mosqueda (Cardinals), righty Blane Abeyta (Braves), outfielder Joel Mendez (Pirates) and righty Gabriel Barbosa (Phillies).
In the Triple-A version, the Yankees selected outfielder Luis Durango from the Guardians.