Stephen Drew free agency: Yankees unlikely to sign shortstop

The New York Yankees are not expected to make a strong push to sign free agent shortstop Stephen Drew, reports Andy Martino of the New York Daily News.

New York certainly has a need for another infielder, but do not appear willing to dish out the money for which Drew is looking. The team currently has the aging and increasingly fragile Derek Jeter at shortstop, an injury-prone and past his prime Brian Roberts at second and Kelly Johnson -- who has played all of 16 games at third base in his career -- at the hot corner.

Drew has shown a greater willingness to play other positions and could be a boon for the Yankees, but with the team having already spent enough to pass the $189 million luxury tax they had hoped to avoid they seem unwilling to spend much more. Furthermore, signing him would require New York to give up another draft pick. They have already lost picks in the 2014 draft for signing Brian McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran, though they gained two selections with the loss of Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano.

General manager Brian Cashman has said that his team was unlikely to make anymore key acquisitions and there appears to be a growing sentiment around baseball that he is telling the truth. The Yankees had also been in talks with the Padres about a possible trade for third baseman Chase Headley, but talks have since broken off.

After missing parts of two seasons thanks to a fractured ankle with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Drew signed a one-year deal with the Boston Red Sox prior to 2013. He had a nice comeback year, hitting .253/.333/.443 with 13 home runs over 124 games.

The Red Sox remain at least somewhat interested in having him return for another year, while the Mets, Twins and Athletics have all been mentioned as other possible landing spots. For now, however, it does not appear any team has a great urgency to sign Drew.