Juan Soto wait cost Yankees chance at Blake Snell, Willy Adames

DALLAS — Brian Cashman is open-minded because he needs to be.

The general manager has to piece together the rest of his roster with Plan A gone — and Plan B might have vanished as well.

It is not just that the Yankees lost Juan Soto, but waiting for Soto cost them other opportunities.

On Nov. 30, the Yankees hosted a Zoom call with Blake Snell, who might have been the best pitcher on the market.

Snell’s agent, Scott Boras, alerted the Yankees that day that a deal was coming together with the Dodgers.

Did they want to make an offer that could wrestle him into pinstripes?

“I can’t make an offer until I know what’s going on with Soto first,” Cashman told Boras.

Without knowing whether Soto would take their hundreds of millions — $760 million being their final offer — they could not commit serious money elsewhere.

Snell signed for $182 million with the reigning champions.

The Yankees kept waiting.

On Saturday, the Giants struck a deal with Willy Adames — probably the best free-agent position player who is not named Soto — for seven years and $182 million.

“He made his decision before [the Soto decision] happened,” Cashman said Monday at the Winter Meetings. “So if he was in play, we’d be talking to his agents as well as other guys, too, about possibilities.”

The Yankees now have plenty of needs amid a watered-down free-agent market and presumably plenty of money to spend.

Cashman acknowledged that the club will be aggressive, both with free agents and trade targets, for a winter that will see the Steinbrenner money dispersed to plenty of good to very good players rather than one superstar.

“Typically you have to get out of your comfort zone [in free agency],” Cashman said. “But we’re also at the same time not going to be drunken sailors. We’re going to do our best to try to improve the team.”

There are plenty of avenues for improvement for a club that does not have a first baseman and either second baseman or third baseman, depending upon Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s position.

On the grass, Cashman acknowledged he would prefer Aaron Judge move to right field.

Jasson Dominguez could take center unless a more attractive target is found, likely on the trade market.

Lefty-hitting Trent Grisham is still around, and Cashman said he could find a righty outfield bat to platoon with Grisham.

The Yankees have taken meetings with the two best remaining arms on the market in Corbin Burnes and Max Fried, and another ace always could be useful.

As could bullpen help for a group that has lost Clay Holmes and Tommy Kahnle, among others.

“We have to deal with some areas of the pen, clearly we have some vacancies there,” Cashman said. “So reinforce pitching, add to the pitching, improve the defense. Obviously, we’ve just lost a big offensive force, but we also have guys that are certainly capable and quality and impactful.

“So how can I add to that? Is it run prevention? Is it run creation? Is it a little bit of both? How it all adds up together, it’s all yet to be determined.”