Yankees' Cashman made previous attempts to acquire Castro

It's been a long process, but New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman finally landed his franchise second baseman.

Cashman pulled off a deal with the Chicago Cubs for Starlin Castro on Tuesday evening, a player he's been targeting since the trade deadline in July, he revealed to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News.

Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and Cashman opened up trade talks again about a month ago, but nothing came to fruition until the Cubs began engaging Ben Zobrist - who plays almost every position on the diamond - at the winter meetings. The trade, of course, was pulled off just minutes after the Cubs reportedly locked up Zobrist on a four-year deal, making Castro expendable.

Castro, a natural shortstop, shifted to second base after the arrival of prospect Addison Russell to the majors, and that piqued Cashman's interest even more in the three-time All-Star.

"He looked like a different player after the position change," Cashman said.

Castro made the positional change in early August, and really caught fire in September at the plate, hitting .426/.452/.750 with 5 homers and 20 RBIs in the month.