Yankees Are Said to Be Near $85 Million Deal for Braves" McCann With uncertainty about all their infielders, the Yankees acted Saturday to solidify their catching position, agreeing in principle with Brian McCann on a five-year deal worth more than $82.5 million. As of Saturday afternoon the Yankees and McCann were at that dollar figure, but the Yankees were expected to increase their offer to $85 million to seal the deal, which will not be completed until McCann passes a physical. The deal also includes an option for a sixth year that could bring it to $100 million, according to a person involved in the negotiations. The Braves had made a $14.1 million qualifying offer to McCann, and by signing him the Yankees will have to surrender a compensatory pick in next year's draft to Atlanta. A left-handed hitter with pull power, McCann should be a perfect fit for Yankee Stadium, with its short right-field fence. He is also considered a team leader with excellent credentials for handling and sticking up for his pitchers. McCann becomes the only certainty for the Yankees on the diamond: Alex Rodriguez is appealing a 211-game suspension; the 39-year-old Derek Jeter (ankle) and Mark Teixeira (wrist) are coming off serious injuries that cut short their seasons; and Robinson Cano is testing the free-agent market. McCann, who turns 30 in February, has played his entire career with the Atlanta Braves and compiled a .277 batting average with a .350 on-base percentage. In nine seasons, he has hit at least 20 home runs seven times, including last season, when he missed the first month after off-season shoulder surgery. He has caught 8,8201/3 innings over 1,046 games. After the Yankees let Russell Martin go in free agency before last season, they had a significant drop in production at catcher, with Chris Stewart, Austin Romine, Francisco Cervelli and J. R. Murphy all seeing time there. The Yankees could now trade Romine, and let McCann catch until prospect Gary Sanchez is ready to take over, at which point McCann could become a designated hitter. The Yankees also plan to meet with Robinson Cano and his representatives in the coming week to discuss a new contract. But as with McCann, the Yankees are also pursuing other free agents, including Carlos Beltran, Jhonny Peralta, Stephen Drew, Omar Infante and Kelly Johnson. They are also engaged in talks with Jacoby Ellsbury and Shin-Soo Choo, but they are not expecting either to sign until after Christmas. And they are talking to closer Joe Nathan. Cano has asked for a 10-year, $310 million contract, which the Yankees will not agree to. They may not even agree to a $200 million contract, although Cano could see an offer in the neighborhood of the deal that Teixeira signed with the Yankees in 2009: eight years for $180 million. Through all this, the Yankees are still looking to stay under the $189 million tax threshold for 2014. And, if they cannot re-sign Cano and can sign one or two more free agents along with McCann, they might construct a more balanced and better team, they feel, much the way the Boston Red Sox did last off-season when they added several players who were not considered superstars. Players like Shane Victorino, Mike Napoli, Jonny Gomes and the closer Koji Uehara turned out to be instrumental to the Red Sox run to a World Series title. Cano, 31, is a career .309 hitter with a career .504 slugging percentage and .355 on-base percentage. Since 2009, he has hit at least 25 home runs each season, and most impressively, he has played at least 159 games in each of the last seven seasons.