Cashman confirms Yankees will be 'careful buyers'

With the first half of the season officially complete, the New York Yankees sit 3 1/2 games out of first place in the American League East and general manager Brian Cashman is hoping to close that gap or take over the top spot by adding via the trade market.

Cashman confirmed Sunday the Yankees will be cautious in their approach to acquiring players as the July 31 trade deadline looms.

"I think that our interest would be (as) buyers. But I think that we're going to be careful buyers," Cashman said Sunday, according to Daniel Popper of the New York Daily News. "We have a long-term plan that I think people are seeing the excitement from. We're definitely not going to deviate from that, but also, part of that long-term plan is in the short-term winning now and putting out the best effort possible. But not at the expense of what we feel can lead us to more championships, plural.

"And so I think everything we're going to try to do is going to be in the context of improving us now as well as how it continues to improve us in the future," Cashman continued. "Whatever we do, it's gonna hurt, that's the nature of the beast. But that's the walk we're trying to walk."

Cashman is putting an obvious focus on first base, where the Yankees haven't been able to find a solid replacement for the injured Greg Bird, while also looking into potential bullpen help.

So far, nothing has panned out and the executive has actually had to turn down trade offers due to high price tags.

"So far I can tell you the sticker prices are pretty high, and I'd like to think our fan base would be happy that we're saying no to a lot of things that are currently being presented to us," Cashman explained. "But you keep working through it."

Yankees first basemen have combined to hit .198/.292/.380 this season with 14 home runs and 37 RBIs, while the bullpen ranks third in the American League in ERA (3.66), but has also walked 124 hitters - good for second in the AL.

New York has been linked to Lucas Duda of the New York Mets and Justin Bour of the Miami Marlins, and has reportedly even taken a look at Marlins third baseman Martin Prado.