Brian Cashman ‘not afraid’ to buck Yankees trend for David Bednar

Detailed summary

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 GM.

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.

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…

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