Yankees not expected to react to the Red Sox signing David Price

It has been a quiet offseason for the Yankees so far, but other teams in the AL East have been busy improving their teams. On Tuesday, the Red Sox seemingly came out of nowhere and signed David Price to a seven-year contract worth $217 million, thus taking one of the best free agent pitchers available off of the market. The Red Sox already made improvements to their bullpen by trading for closer Craig Kimbrel, and scooped up former Yankee outfielder Chris Young. Usually, when the Red Sox (and other AL East teams) sign a top free agent or make a huge trade, fans start clamoring for the Yankees to make a big move of their own. If you were hoping for the Yankees to counter by signing Zack Greinke, you will probably be disappointed to hear that the Yankees are not expected to react to the Price signing at all.

Sources indicate the Yankees have no plans to react to the Red Sox signing David Price. They are still looking more at the trade market.

— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) December 2, 2015

This news shouldn't come as a huge surprise, since Brian Cashman has been very vocal about how he expects the offseason to play out, explaining that the Yankees have more of a history of being more aggressive in the free agency market when they have contracts coming off of the books. That certainly isn't the case this season, since the only players the team lost to free agency were Chris Young, Stephen Drew and Chris Capuano, who earned less than $13 million combined last year. The Yankees have holes to fill at second base and in the rotation and bullpen, but it appears that Greinke, Ben Zobrist, and many of the other top free agents will be out of consideration.

Just because the Yankees aren't expected to make a huge splash through free agency, doesn't mean Cashman can't still put together a great trade though. Last offseason the Yankees were able to acquire Justin Wilson, Chasen Shreve, Nathan Eovaldi and Didi Gregorius through trades without giving up too much in return. There have already been rumors flying around about potentially trading Brett Gardner, and Cashman has said that he would be willing to trade Andrew Miller if the right deal came up.

Ultimately, it is probably better for the team if the Yankees don't react to the Price deal by turning around and offering something like eight years and $240 million to Greinke. The Yankees were in a similar situation at the trade deadline when the Blue Jays got Price and made that large trade with the Rockies. Many fans wanted the Yankees to make a huge trade of their own, but they didn't end up doing anything and we know how that ended. Giving up some of the Yankees' top prospects just for a temporary rental like Zobrist probably wouldn't have propelled the Yankees past the Blue Jays anyway. There's still plenty of time for the Yankees to assess their needs and improve the team via trade. The Yankees are trying to get younger and seem to be making an effort to move away from the act of giving out expensive, lengthy contracts to aging players, so they shouldn't stray from their game plan just because the Red Sox signed Price.

Do you think the Yankees should react to the Red Sox moves by signing a top free agent? Or should they just stick to their original plan of improving the team through trades?