Big deals put farm system in comfortable spot

NEW YORK — Like many a man approaching the age of 50, Brian Cashman is coming to realize that things just aren’t like they used to be.

When Cashman, the Yankees’ general manager since 1998, first joined the organization in ’86, he observed how then-owner George Steinbrenner used his wallet to build not just through free agency, but also in the Draft and the international market. But a lot has changed about baseball since then. Now there are caps on how much teams can spend in both the Draft and in overseas acquisitions, making it far harder to purchase young assets than it was back in the days of The Boss.

And with Sunday morning’s mega-deal with the Indians now official — a trade that sent relief pitcher Andrew Miller to Cleveland for two prized former first-round Draft picks in outfielder Clint Frazier and left-hander Justus Sheffield, as well as Minor League relievers Ben Heller and J.P. Feyereisen — Cashman signaled that he and the Yankees are admitting that adapting to the new model is the only way to succeed in it.

“The chessboard today is a lot different, especially in how you can access talent,” Cashman said. “Instead of saying it’s an institutional change, it’s a recognition of how the industry is completely different today and the operating standards are completely different today. There’s just a sound recognition of that.”

With that recognition has come a revamped Yankees farm system. To build young, the Yanks have to be …

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