Report: Yankees, Mets trying to deal veterans to clear payroll

The New York Yankees and New York Mets need to clear some room on their payrolls if they want to keep spending the big bucks.

Both teams made colossal financial splashes this offseason, when the Yankees signed Aroldis Chapman to a five-year, $86-million deal, and the Mets inked Yoenis Cespedes to a four-year contract worth $110 million.

Cespedes' deal is the largest per annum contract in franchise history, and if they want to add a setup man, they'd rather get rid of the $13-million owed to Jay Bruce than the $15-million Curtis Granderson is set to make.

“It’s like buying a new house without selling your old one,” Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said last week, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. “Sometimes you get stuck in the transition, and it’s not a good place to be.”

In the Bronx, it's the same problem.

After signing Chapman, they have Dellin Betances on the back end, but they need to sign more free agents to fill out the roster.

The Yankees are reportedly trying to gauge the interest in Chase Headley, whose owed $26-million over two years, and Brett Gardner, who will make $25-million over the same span.

Both teams have made their interest in relievers Boone Logan and Brad Ziegler clear, but it won't happen if they can't cut the salary on their payrolls.

“I don’t think it is legally OK (by the CBA) for me to say (whether the team is pursuing major league free agents),” Yankees GM Brian Cashman said. "But tellingly, I wouldn’t focus on us.”

Last offseason, the Yankees were the only team not to sign a major-league free agent. So far this winter, they've signed Chapman and Matt Holliday, which will peg them roughly at a $210-million payroll.

The Mets project to be around $150 million, but need a reliever to tag team with Addison Reed in the late innings, considering an MLB-issued suspension per domestic abuse protocols for Jeurys Familia is on the horizon.