ORLANDO, Fla. — In the weeks since their season ended just short of making the World Series, the Yankees have operated in a methodical, disciplined manner. They dispatched their manager, Joe Girardi, and set about interviewing replacements as if they were selecting apples at a farmers’ market.

And while the trade interest for the Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton has begun to heat up, and action for a reasonably attractive free-agent class begins to percolate, the Yankees appear content to sit on their perch and spectate.

It is another sign that the Yankees’ recent transformation is not limited to the field.

“We used to be a very reactive organization,” General Manager Brian Cashman said. “That we’re not now.”

That notion was reinforced on Wednesday when the team’s principal owner, Hal Steinbrenner, declared it was “absolutely a goal” for next season’s payroll to be below the luxury tax threshold, which is now $197 million — something the Yankees have not accomplished in the previous 17 seasons the tax has existed.