Do the Yankees offseason moves signify a changing of the times?

The offseason is more than halfway over, pitchers and catchers report in less than 50 days, and this offseason has felt unlike any other in recent memory. The Yankees haven't really added any aging veterans or any hefty contracts. In fact, they seem to be doing things very differently when it comes to contracts and the type of players that they are seeking which may indicate a new offseason strategy moving forward. What are the Yankees doing differently?

1. Saving money

We all have that one acquaintance who hates the Yankees and likes to use their payroll to prove their point. When the Yankees are doing well, then it's "Yeah, well they bought their championship!" When they miss the playoffs two seasons in a row, then it's "All that money and you still can't win." Well, for the first time in fifteen years, the Dodgers had baseball's highest player payroll, surpassing the 2014 Yankees by over $50 million. It was kind of nice to be able to say the Yankees didn't have the highest payroll (especially when defending yourself to Dodger fans), and it looks like that could continue to be a trend moving forward.

When it comes down to it, having the highest salary doesn't always guarantee success. The Yankees typical strategy coming off of a poor season, such as 2013, has been to spend more money the following season. Clearly this didn't work out for them in 2014 as they won one less game despite increasing the overall payroll by $8.5 million. The 2015 payroll is already looking to be over $200 million, but it looks like the Yankees are taking a more conservative approach to offseason spending. Instead of signing the biggest, most expensive free agents on the market, they've signed the cheaper ones. They could have gone all-in for Pablo Sandoval and David Robertson, but replaced them with players of a similar quality who happened to be less expensive options. Brian Cashman has also made more than the usual amount of trades, most of which have resulted in saving the team money while still filling a need. Of course, it could be that they're trying to save all the money they can to land Max Scherzer, but it could be that they really aren't going to hand out any monster contracts this year.

2. Getting younger

Could it be that they finally learned their lesson after an injury-plagued 2014? Did Brian Roberts and Alfonso Soriano push them over the edge? The Yankees of old really loved their veteran presence, but it looks like the team will be a lot younger in 2015. This is partially due to the departure of older players such as Derek Jeter and Hiroki Kuroda, but has also been a conscious decision by the team. They've passed on all of the top free agents. After a season of Brian Roberts and non-second baseman Stephen Drew, Cashman appears to be content with having the much younger Jose Pirela and Rob Refsnyder compete to be second baseman. By making trades, and not handing out long contracts, the Yankees also look to have less older, declining players on the payroll in the future.

Of course, there's still time to shake up the roster, and all of this goes out the window if they turn around and sign Max Scherzer, or if they decide to sign a veteran second baseman after all. Do you think that the days of long, expensive contracts are over and that the Yankees will spend less and get younger moving forward?