Chad Jennings

cjennings@lohud.com

Last week, the Yankees outrighted minor league reliever J.R. Graham off their 40-man roster, which only temporarily opened a spot. With seven players on the 60-day disabled list, the Yankees effectively have 46 players on their 40-man. They also have at least one minor leaguer -- Kyle Higashioka -- worth consideration for a 40-man spot immediately after the World Series to keep him from reaching free agency. Only two players are automatically becoming free agents at the end of the year.

In other words, the Yankees' 40-man roster is already crowded, and that's long before Rule 5 protection and free agent additions.

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Here's a look at the state of the 40-man heading into the offseason.

Automatically becoming free agents

Mark Teixeira, Billy Butler

At the trade deadline, the Yankees traded away three players who were heading to free agency. They kept only one who fit that description, and that was Teixeira, who played his final game on Sunday. Butler still has another year left on his original Oakland A's contract, but that doesn't apply to the Yankees. When the Yankees signed Butler, they got him for the rest of this year only. He's not signed for next year.

Signed to multi-year contracts

CC Sabathia, Masahiro Tanaka, Tyler Clippard, Brian McCann, Starlin Castro, Chase Headley, Jacoby Ellsbury, Brett Gardner

The Yankees have no pitchers locked in beyond 2017. Sabathia and Clippard will be free agents after next season, and Tanaka can opt out after next year. There are still plenty of pitchers under team control beyond next year, but none is an absolute commitment from each side. Position players, on the other hand, are locked up. McCann, Castro, Headley, Ellsbury and Gardner are each signed through at least 2018.

Arbitration eligible without much risk of non-tender

Michael Pineda, Dellin Betances, Adam Warren, Didi Gregorius, Aaron Hicks, Austin Romine

No question the Yankees are going to bring back Betances, Warren and Gregorius. There's a better chance of those three getting an extension than a non-tender. Pineda, Hicks and Romine might be quite as obvious arbitration cases, but Hicks and Romine are first-year eligible, which means they're still quite cheap with little to be gained from letting them go. Pineda is in his final year of arbitration and due for a raise from his $4.3 million salary, but given the cost of pitching -- and the relatively low risk of a one-year deal -- Pineda seems to be a safe bet for a contract offer.

Arbitration eligible with strong non-tender consideration

Nathan Eovaldi, Anthony Swarzak, Dustin Ackley, Donovan Solano, Eric Young Jr.

The big name here is obviously Eovaldi, who would have been a no-brainer to come back on a one-year deal if not for his Tommy John surgery. Now it seems the Yankees have to either sign him to some sort of two-year deal -- buy low on his rehab season and hope to get something out of him in 2018 -- or simply non-tender him into free agency. Ackley is a bit of a wild card because he would still be relatively cheap on a one-year deal coming back from shoulder surgery. Best I can can tell, Swarzak, Solano and Young each have a year of arbitration remaining, but they surely will be cut loose before that comes into play.

Pre-arbitration players without much risk of being designated for assignment

Luis Severino, Luis Cessa, Bryan Mitchell, Chad Green, Ben Heller, Jonathan Holder, Gary Sanchez, Tyler Austin, Greg Bird, Rob Refsnyder, Ronald Torreyes, Aaron Judge, Mason Williams

Even if the Yankees aren't sure what to do with some of these guys, choosing to DFA them in an effort to open a roster spot would seem excessive. They might trade a few of them to open a spot and address another weakness -- Refsnyder, in particular, seems to be a trade possibility -- but there aren't the immediately expendable players who are cut loose just because the roster is tight. A guy like Heller was not particularly impressive in his big league debut, but the Yankees aren't going to give up so quickly on a recent trade addition.

Pre-arbitration relievers caught in a numbers game

Nick Goody, Chasen Shreve, Kirby Yates, James Pazos, Johnny Barbato

I almost put Goody and Shreve in the previous group, but I'm not sure any shuttle relievers -- except the ones who are particularly prospect-ish -- should be so fully eliminated from the DFA possibility. Some of these guys seem more likely to stick around than others (Barbato stands out as a strong DFA candidate) but unestablished relievers are always a bit uncertain. That seems especially true for the Yankees, who have a ton of similar options and could still sign a reliever or two.

Pre-arbitration relievers who made a surprising first impression

Tommy Layne, Richard Bleier, Blake Parker

Who would have thought when the Yankees added these three that we'd even discuss the possibility of keeping them? Reality is, these three are still incredibly cheap and just outpitched many of the alternatives currently on the roster. Layne in particular set himself apart as a go-to lefty specialist who had some big moments against right-handed hitters as well. Bleier had a lower WHIP than every Yankees pitcher except Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman (lower, even, than Tanaka or Betances). Parker doesn't have particularly standout numbers, but that's because of two ugly outings. He was excellent the rest of the time and clearly became the sixth man in the bullpen by the end of the year (ahead of many other relievers currently on the roster).

Pre-arbitration relievers complicated by surgery

Nick Rumbelow, Branden Pinder, Jacob Lindgren, Conor Mullee

Rumbelow and Pinder had Tommy John surgery in April, which means there's a good chance they'll be ready to pitch fairly early next year. Lindgren, though, didn't have Tommy John until August, which means he's probably out all of next season. Mullee had a much less significant elbow surgery to deal with a nerve problem and should be ready for Spring Training, but he's also probably the most likely of this bunch to actually clear waivers (though he was excellent in Triple-A). Performance isn't the problem with these four, bu injuries have put them in an uncertain spot.