Payroll concerns limiting Cashman?

From George King (NY Post):

At Friday’s trade deadline, the Yankees added utilityman Jerry Hairston Jr. and nothing else. Not wanting to add payroll, the Yanks weren’t serious players for lefty Jarrod Washburn, who went from Seattle to Detroit.

So, what are the chances of making a deal now that a player has to clear waivers in order to be traded?

“Who knows — if it makes sense we will look at it,” GM Brian Cashman said. “There will be opportunity for people to do deals in the new deadline. What that means for us remains to be seen.”

If Hal Steinbrenner didn’t allow Cashman to take on significant money before July 31, it’s unlikely he will do so now. However, the Yankees are locked in a tight race with the Red Sox, and if Aceves isn’t right and Mitre continues to get spanked, they will be forced to make upgrades.

Multiple sources said yesterday that players will get through waivers this year more than in recent years due to teams not wanting to get stuck with a contract via the claim process.

King is basically saying that Hal Steinbrenner prohibited significant payroll additions at the trade deadline. He also says that, because of financial concerns, the Yankees were never serious players for Jarrod Washburn. That can be disputed, however, as Bryan Hoch notes that the Yankees didn’t make a serious play at Washburn because Seattle’s demands were too high. They reportedly wanted Austin Jackson, which wasn’t going to happen—not for a 2-month rental. Still, as Steve Lombardi points out, the Yankees could have bargained with the Mariners, right? Sure they wanted A-Jax—everyone asks for a team’s top prospects at the outset—but considering what they got for Washburn from the Tigers, it seems as though they would have lowered their demands if Cashman was truly persistent. What, then, is the truth? Did financial concerns limit Cashman or was it the Mariners and their unreasonable requests?

In the end, I believe that the Yankees didn’t want to take on Washburn’s contract which ultimately explains why he isn’t with the team today. Everything they’ve said about the M’s wanting A-Jax is simply disinformation to make it look like they actually tried to get Washburn. We heard numerous reports leading up to the trade deadline claiming that the Yankees wanted teams to pay the salaries of trade targets like Bronson Arroyo and Brian Bannister, which support this theory. Based on the information at hand, it really seems like the Yankees aren’t going to make anymore moves this year unless they are absolutely forced to—not because of unfair trade packages, but because of Hal Steinbrenner’s fiscal philosophy.