Bulk of Yanks’ offseason moves done at Meetings

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — As Brian Cashman grabbed the wheel and left the grounds of the Gaylord National Harbor Resort & Convention Center on Thursday morning, beginning a four-hour highway trek toward New York City, he did so believing that the Yankees’ heavy winter lifting is “most likely” complete.

Just the formality of a physical exam stands between the Yankees and their prime winter target, left-handed closer Aroldis Chapman, as the game’s hardest thrower agreed late Wednesday to a record-setting five-year, $86 million contract that will bring him back to the Bronx.

• Source: Yankees, Chapman agree to deal

The Yankees also finalized a one-year, $13 million deal with slugger Matt Holliday during these Winter Meetings, and those two splashes made the asphalt miles between the Potomac and Harlem Rivers well worth covering.

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“Everybody always wants to be bright and right,” Cashman said. “We’re just trying to be bright about what we’re doing and right in the end by everything we do. We try to use that consistently. If we’re good at that enough over time, it’ll serve us well.”

Cashman arrived at the Winter Meetings saying that the Yankees needed to find a proven veteran bat in the wake of the Nov. 17 trade that shipped Brian McCann to the Astros, and at least two bullpen arms, with a Chapman reunion their stated priority because of his success in New York and the absence of an attached compensation Draft pick.

They also had interest in adding a starting pitcher, but Cashman learned during the Winter Meetings that …

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