Yankees: 5 offseason decisions Brian Cashman wishes he could have back

4. Passing on a big-ticket free agent

The Yankees were linked with a litany of big-ticket free agents this offseason but signed exactly none of them. The biggest deal Cashman consummated was bringing Anthony Rizzo back to the Bronx on a two-year, $32 million deal.

Carlos Correa was arguably the team’s biggest miss. Cashman didn’t want to commit long-term money to a shortstop that might block top prospect Anthony Volpe for the long haul. The team could conceivably have inked Correa to a big deal with the intentions of moving him to third base as soon as Volpe was ready to handle short at the major league level. Instead, Correa is plying his trade in Minnesota.

The other big miss was first baseman Freddie Freeman. Rizzo has played well at that spot and was the cheaper option. That doesn’t change the reality that adding Freeman could have drastically changed the complexion of the middle of Aaron Boone’s batting order.

The team preserved payroll flexibility by staying out of the big free-agent market this offseason, but fiscal restraint doesn’t win trophies. Part of Cashman has to wish he could’ve landed one big start to bolster his team this offseason.