New York Yankees: Why the clearance rack now?

The New York Yankees turned their attention to short-term, low-cost options Tuesday when they came to agreement with oft-injured second baseman Brian Roberts and aging southpaw reliever Matt Thornton.

After spending $283 million on just three players this offseason, pushing them to the brink of the $189 million luxury-tax threshold, why the sudden move to the free-agent clearance rack in December?
This article was originally published December 18, 2013 on Yahoo Sports. Click here to read more.

Christopher Carelli is a freelance sports writer/editor and the Director of Content Strategy for Sportsideo. Besides his work here, Chris is a New York Yankees contributor for Yahoo Sports. Connect with Chris on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn.