TAMPA, Fla. — General Manager Brian Cashman sat in the team’s dugout Monday morning with his broken leg perched on the bench, discussing his desire to entice first baseman Derrek Lee out of retirement to help save the Yankees from their numerous injuries.

Cashman said he called Lee and asked him to join the Yankees, and he said that Lee was intrigued, but had not said yes. Cashman was not optimistic that Lee would take the team up on its offer, so he revealed a contingency plan: to lure the Atlanta Braves longtime third baseman Chipper Jones out of retirement.

That had even less chance of working, and there was almost no shot of getting Scott Rolen, another corner infielder Cashman had inquired about. But Cashman finally got a player to say yes Monday when he signed Ben Francisco only hours after Francisco had been released by the Cleveland Indians.