This story was excerpted from Bryan Hoch’s Yankees Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here . And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

NEW YORK -- There has been a fair amount of hand-wringing in recent weeks about the Yankees’ payroll, fueled by managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner’s remark that it would be “ideal” to come in lower than last year , when the club spent $319 million on a roster that won 94 games before bowing out early in October.

Yet these are still the Yankees, a team that can turn its wallet into a weapon. Opposing general managers know it, and so do agents. When Brian Cashman was asked recently if he’d be willing to add another nine-figure contract, the veteran general manager grinned.

“I would always do that,” Cashman said. “I’m go

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