Where things stand for Yankees with remaining big-name free agents

We were standing near a pristine hotel pool somewhere in central Florida, on the kind of morning that called for a windbreaker and was too chilly for swimming, when I asked Brian Cashman how he felt about what he had accomplished at the Winter Meetings.

“I haven’t accomplished anything,” the Yankees' general manager replied.

Strictly speaking, that was accurate. Other than a selection in the Rule 5 Draft, the club’s first since 2011, the Yankees left Orlando without a major transaction to show for the week. It wasn’t for a lack of effort.

As the Yankees debrief from the Winter Meetings and continue their search for ways to improve the roster for the year ahead, here is a selection of topics covered in my most recent Reddit AMA (lightly condensed for brevity and clarity).

Anything on the Tatsuya Imai front? Can’t tell who to trust when it comes to the rumors about him.

My sense is that the Yankees' interest in Imai is legitimate. They haven't had a Japanese player since Masahiro Tanaka, but it hasn't been for a lack of trying -- remember, they were right there at the finish line for Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Cashman made an interesting point recently about that pursuit: They'd just gotten back from meeting with Yamamoto in Los Angeles, where there were some perfect beach weather days, and then they hosted Yamamoto in cold, gray New York. Cashman remembered thinking: "This isn't going to help us."

• What to expect from Tatsuya Imai? Here are 5 MLB comparisons

And of course, the Dodgers outbid everyone, which is really what it was all about. So to answer this question, yes, I believe the Yankees are right there in the Imai market. There's too many reasons for them not to be.

Is the reported interest in Michael King real? Didn’t think they’d have much interest given the qualifying offer is attached.

There's real interest. The qualifying offer is inconvenient, but it wouldn't necessarily stop them from signing him. They lost a compensation pick last year for signing Max Fried and hardly blinked about it.

Let me also say here, you won't find a person in the Yankees' organization with a negative thing to say about King. They loved him -- he's a bulldog and he fits their current needs in so many ways. They had to give King up to bring in Juan Soto, and it was a price worth paying to get to a World Series, even with how it all turned out.

Now they have a chance to bring him back. My understanding is that while the Orioles, Red Sox and Yankees are all involved, there are other teams in the mix at this moment too.

Do you think Don Mattingly will ever get voted into the Hall of Fame?

I'll put it this way -- if anyone would like to read 750 or so words of pre-written copy about Mattingly being selected to the Hall of Fame last Sunday, I've got 'em ready to go.

I was as surprised as anyone to be writing the Jeff Kent story that night -- I thought it would be Mattingly and maybe Dale Murphy. Mattingly's 1984-89 peak was outstanding. Obviously, to the voters, that hasn't been enough. The injury decline was steep, and at this point, the result is probably that we won't see Mattingly in Cooperstown.

But here's what I'd counter -- would the Hall be a better place with Donald Arthur Mattingly helping to represent it? My answer is yes.

Do you think the Yankees have internally considered Bo Bichette?

Yes, with a caveat -- you're talking about adding another major salary commitment to the pile. It's not a non-starter, but in talking to people around the Jays last year covering the ALCS, Bichette's not a long-term answer at shortstop.

So you'd need to plan on him being your second baseman or third baseman, which means we're talking about a trade involving Jazz Chisholm Jr. or Ryan McMahon if you're intending to keep payroll around the $310 million window. Long story short, I don't expect to see it.

But I will tell you what one Toronto person told me -- Bichette would be a good clubhouse fit and he'd handle New York well.

Any chance we see a Luke Weaver reunion?

Never say never, but Weaver was irked late in the season about some of the mechanical adjustments they were pushing on him related to pitch-tipping -- it seemed like he was trying to think about too many different checkpoints instead of just focusing on executing the next pitch.

He also expressed interest in trying to find a place where he could try being a starter again, a la Clay Holmes. If he's really focused on that, I don't think it'll be in the Bronx.

Do they have to have Cody Bellinger no matter what, or is there a hard ceiling for what they’d offer?

There's definitely a ceiling, and after seeing how last week went in Orlando, I'd brace for a real possibility that Bellinger winds up elsewhere.

Certain teams (cough, cough, the Mets) are in need of an offseason splash and have shown willingness to go places others won't. Bellinger liked his time with the Yankees, they've made no secret of wanting him back, but let's be realistic -- when Scott Boras says there's eight teams involved, the chances of Bellinger accepting less than top dollar to come back seems like a fantasy.

Do you think Ben Rice will be able to get better defensively?

I do think Rice can improve -- you can teach glovework and positioning at first base, what you can't teach as easily is impacting the ball as hard and as consistently as he does.

I asked Aaron Boone during the Winter Meetings if Rice would benefit from just focusing completely on first base all spring. He said they want to keep catching in the toolkit because it's valuable and they do think he's capable back there, either as a backup or third catcher.

Fair, but if there's no Paul Goldschmidt type on the roster and he's going to be playing against lefties and righties, I'd expect Rice gets a lot of early work at first base. If that comes at the price of not catching a few bullpen sessions, so be it.