Wallace Matthews, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Does Chris signing cap Yanks' offseason?

NEW YORK -- The Yankees signed a starting pitcher this week, but I think it's safe to surmise Chris Capuano is not what Yankees fans were hoping to find in their Hanukkah gift pile.

And yet, unless there is a seismic shift in the club's thinking, Capuano could be the last major free-agent signing for the Yankees between now and the beginning of spring training on Feb. 20.

That means no Big Game James, as in James Shields, and no Super Max, as in Max Scherzer. (Yes, Hiroki Kuroda is still out there, and according to a Yankees source, has yet to inform the club of whether he wants to pitch again in 2015, a decision he is unlikely to make until January.)

That position was reiterated to me by two baseball insiders with intimate knowledge of the Yankees' operations on Wednesday afternoon. One of them told me via text, "At the moment, I don't see how" the Yankees will be able to sign Scherzer. The other, in a phone conversation, said the Yankees were positively out of the hunt for both Scherzer and Shields, by far the two best pitchers remaining on the board.

"He's a great pitcher," the source said of Scherzer, "but not even the Yankees can have three $25 [million] to $30 million pitchers on the payroll. You just can't."

This, of course, could be posturing aimed at rattling Scott Boras, Scherzer's agent (lotsa luck with that), but the truth is the Yankees will be paying CC Sabathia and Masahiro Tanaka, both of whom are coming off injuries and neither of whom is a lock to stay healthy enough to pitch 200 innings in 2015, a combined $45 million.

"Long-term deals for pitchers over 30 generally don't work out," one of the sources said. "The only one I can recall that did is Mike Mussina."

That source went on to enumerate the stockpile of arms the Yankees will take to camp -- along with Sabathia and Tanaka, they will have Michael Pineda, who pitched like an ace last season but still has a history of major shoulder surgery in his past; Ivan Nova, who underwent Tommy John surgery and is not expected back until May at the earliest; Capuano, who went 2-3 with a 4.25 ERA in 12 starts for the Yankees after they picked him up in July; and David Phelps and Adam Warren, both of whom worked out of the bullpen most of last season.

The source also mentioned the possibility of Manny Banuelos, who until proven otherwise remains an unkept promise following Tommy John surgery, and the chance GM Brian Cashman might be able to scrape together a trade for a proven starter. Cole Hamels of the Phillies and Jordan Zimmermann of the Washington Nationals are believed to be on the block, but the Yankees have a well-known shortage of tradable parts to offer for them.

Which leaves open the very real possibility that the signing of Capuano, a very average major league starter, will be the last major move of the Yankees' offseason until players become available after spring training cuts.

In that case, the Yankees team that begins the 2015 season would be substantially the team that ended 2014, minus Derek Jeter and David Robertson, but plus Andrew Miller, Didi Gregorius and, of course, Alex Rodriguez, who with the signing of Chase Headley has been reduced to a $21 million DH.

Is that good enough to compete?

"It is what it is," said one of the sources, and you could almost hear the shrug of frustration through the telephone line.

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