While the Yankees have made three significant additions this winter, the wheeling and dealing might not be over yet. The Yanks still have a few areas they could choose to address from outside the organization. This means looking to the remaining free agents and to the trade pool. As fans we’re quick to speculate on moves which would help the team. The team, however, has a different mode of thought.

One aspect I don’t see many accounting for is the 40-man roster, which is currently full. This has a significant effect on how the Yankees will build out their 2009 team. Some fans might have wanted to see the Yanks take fliers on the guys the Red Sox picked up recently: Brad Penny, John Smoltz, Takashi Saito, Rocco Baldelli. However, the Yankees are ill equipped to handle such gambles. Each of the four signed a major league deal, meaning they require a 40-man roster spot.

Looking at the current 40-man, there doesn’t seem to be many players the Yanks would consider moving. The only position player they could possibly DFA would be Cody Ransom. He’d likely pass through waivers and head back to the Yanks farm system. However, the Yanks would need to add either him or Angel Berroa to the 40-man prior to Opening Day, so that just pushes the problem on Future Brian Cashman.

On the pitching end, I suppose the Yanks could DFA Chase Wright, but he throws with his left arm so that’s doubtful. The lesser arms — Anthony Claggett, Michal Dunn, Chris Garcia, Eric Hacker, Steven Jackson — were recently added to the roster. It’s not like Cashman used up a spot just to DFA the player later. There just isn’t much room for the team to maneuver right now.

Perhaps this is why the Yanks haven’t stolen Juan Cruz. He makes more sense for them than for the teams which would have to surrender a first rounder. Yet the Yanks can’t make a move because they don’t have much if any 40-man flexibility. If they’re going to sign another free agent, they’d probably have to swing a trade somewhere, perhaps a two-for-one that would free up a roster spot. Otherwise, there’s not much the Yanks can really do.

We haven’t really touched on the Cuban defector situation yet on RAB, so now is as good a time as any. As you might have heard, Yadel Marti and Yasser Gomez defected from Cuba a few weeks ago. You might remember Marti from the WBC if you payed attention in 2006. He pitched 12.2 scoreless innings and racked up a pair of saves. Gomez has compiled some gawdy stats in a Cuban National Series tournament. Both figure to garner a bit of attention once they’re officially on the market.

As Steve at MLBTR noted yesterday, the duo will be open to all suitors. Of course, their price tags might make them prohibitive to some or most of the small market teams. Plus, they mentioned the Yankees, White Sox, and Red Sox specifically, so that might be indicative of where they think they’ll land.

The last time the Yanks and the Sox were both in on a Cuban defector, we saw the term “Evil Empire” born. “The evil empire extends its tentacles even into Latin America,” the disgruntled co-owner of the Sox said after the Yanks outbid his team for Jose Contreras. Unfortunately, it was an auction that in hindsight the Yanks would have preferred to lose. After pitching to a 3.30 ERA over 71 innings in 2003, he bombed in 2004, pitching to a 5.64 ERA in 95.2 innings while walking way, way, way too many hitters (42). The Yanks traded him straight up for Esteban Loaiza, who was even worse than Contreras — though he did fare well in his 8.1 playoff innings.

I don’t know anything about these players other than what’s been printed thus far, so I can’t make a totally-informed call on whether the Yankees should consider pursuit. I guess it depends on the market. You don’t want to give more than two years to either of these guys. They’re said to be 29 (Marti) and 28 (Gomez), but who knows how old they actually are. Unless we’re talking a Juan Miranda type deal here, my instinct would tell me to pass.