If that’s true, then Cashman dropped the ball.
Andujar was certainly a nice source of RHH power, but to pass on a potential TOR starter with multiple years of control in order to hold on to a defensively limited 1b/DH type strikes me as a bad non-move.
The Yankees could have replaced Andujar with the money spent on Happ much more efficiently than the struggle they will have trying to replace what Cole would have brought. And they did, with LeMahieu.
But hey, hindsight is 20/20...