Brian Cashman: Yankees committed to playing Troy Tulowitzki at shortstop

For whatever it’s worth, Brian Cashman says the New York Yankees are serious about Troy Tulowitzki as their shortstop.

The Yankee general manager wouldn’t comment on the team’s pursuit of Manny Machado on Friday, but he did say that the team is serious about Tulowitzki as their shortstop in the absence of Didi Gregorius, who will likely miss the first half of the season after Tommy John surgery.

Brian Cashman, on if Troy Tulowitzki takes them out of the Manny Machado hunt:

"I can't say what it would take us out of, but we're going into this with a commitment level to try Troy Tulowitzki at shortstop."

— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) January 4, 2019

Cashman could be bluffing, of course. It could also be a sign that they’d want to sign Machado to play third base, which could lead to a trade of one of their standout young players. Whatever the case, it would almost certainly be a mistake to count the Yankees out of the Machado sweepstakes because they signed Tulowitzki at the league minimum.