LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The New York Yankees made a rare payroll dump Tuesday, creating flexibility to add starting pitching.

Third baseman Chase Headley and pitcher Bryan Mitchell were dealt to San Diego for 28-year-old outfielder Jabari Blash, who made his big league debut in 2016 and has played in 99 games in the majors over two seasons.

Headley’s $13 million salary was assumed by the Padres, and the Yankees agreed to give San Diego $500,000 on Jan. 10 to defray part of Headley’s $1 million assignment bonus.

A day after finalizing their acquisition of Giancarlo Stanton from Miami, the Yankees cut payroll to about $167 million for luxury-tax purposes. The owner, Hal Steinbrenner, is intent on getting under the $197 million tax threshold next year, and New York still may attempt to re-sign left-hander CC Sabathia or trade for another starting pitcher such as Detroit right-hander Michael Fulmer.

“The biggest motivation from our end is it creates a lot more financial flexibility as we are going to reset that tax clock,” Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman said. “It’s a mandate from above over the course of a number of years that we’ve been building toward.”

MARINERS: Pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma could be back as soon as May after surgery on his right shoulder.

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Iwakuma, 36, made only six starts last season, going 0-2 with a 4.35 ERA. The problems with his pitching shoulder sent him to the disabled list in May and caused setbacks during his recovery.

ORIOLES: Buck Showalter wants to continue managing the team after his contract expires following the 2018 season.

Showalter was asked at baseball’s winter meetings whether he wants to manage the Orioles in 2019 and beyond. His reply? “Sure.”

METS: Mickey Callaway, the new manager, might not quite complete one offseason task – watching all 162 of the team’s games last season, an aim that now seems out of reach.

“They can condense a game down to 20 minutes,” Callaway said. “I’ve been trying to do it. I don’t know if I’m going to make it all the way through.”

DODGERS: Manager Dave Roberts said Cody Bellinger could play more often in the outfield next season if first baseman Adrian Gonzalez is healthy.

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Last season, Bellinger made 83 starts at first base and 43 in the outfield, where he played all three positions. He played first base throughout the postseason with Gonzalez sidelined.

CUBS: Ron Coomer, the radio analyst, agreed to a multiyear contract extension.

Coomer, 51, has been working alongside play-by-play announcer Pat Hughes since 2013. Primarily a corner infielder during his nine major league seasons, he made the All-Star team with Minnesota in 1999 and played for the Cubs in 2001.

RATHER THAN risk another concussion, umpire Dale Scott decided to retire at 58.

Scott missed nearly the entire 2017 season after a foul ball off the bat of Mark Trumbo of Baltimore in Toronto on April 14 caught him hard in the mask, causing Scott’s second concussion in nine months and fourth in five years.


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