accepting the $22.025 million qualifying offer <\/a>earlier this week, the Yankees\u2019 projected luxury tax payroll for 2026 already is at $281 million, per Cot\u2019s Contracts. <\/p>\nAsked whether it is realistic to stay under $300 million, Cashman hedged.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it could go both ways,\u201d he said. \u201cIt just depends on how things shake out and what opportunities present themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cashman said he had \u201cnot necessarily\u201d been given a budget by Steinbrenner but indicated there could be certain parameters while the owner remained willing to listen on anything. <\/p>\n
That will include Cody Bellinger, whose return alone would bring the payroll over $300 million before any other moves are made.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGo beyond the box score with the Bombers\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Yankees by Greg Joyce, exclusively on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m good at spending money,\u201d Cashman said with a grin.<\/p>\n
Friday at 8 p.m. is the non-tender deadline, and with it comes some interesting calls for the Yankees on a number of their arbitration-eligible relievers, including Mark Leiter Jr., Ian Hamilton, Jake Cousins and Scott Effross.<\/p>\n
![\"Yankees](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/new-york-yankees-general-manager-115933852.jpg\")
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman is seen in his sleeping bag during the Covenant House Sleep Out event at the Jacob Javits Center. JASON SZENES\/ NY POST<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know what we intend to do,\u201d Cashman said. \u201cWe\u2019re having conversations at the same time with clubs. We may be doing some business before the tender. Whether we cut deals, we may be making trades. And yeah, we\u2019ll have non-tenders as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cashman had a 9 a.m. call scheduled for Friday with an agent of a non-tender candidate, which will come after he got little to no sleep while participating in the Sleep Out (bundled up in a sleeping bag outside to raise funds and awareness for youth homelessness) for the 14th year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t wish this on anybody,\u201d Cashman said. \u201cThis is one night, and I get to eventually get off that cinder block and head home and shower and get Starbucks and start my day and get some rest, where these kids on a day-in and day-out basis, week in and week out, month in and month out, they don\u2019t know where they\u2019re laying their head. They\u2019re trying to stay safe, trying to avoid the elements and crime and when their next good meal is coming. I can\u2019t imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Only Hal Steinbrenner knows where the Yankees\u2019 2026 payroll will ultimately land \u2014 or at least how high…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304828,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,369,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-304827","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-mlb","9":"tag-new-york-yankees","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/new-york-yankees-general-manager-115933888.jpg\")
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman talks to the media during the Covenant House Sleep Out event at the Jacob Javits Center on Nov. 20, 2025. JASON SZENES\/ NY POST<\/p>\n