When is the last time that Yankees "Plan B" actually worked?

Going back a decade, it seems like every single Yankees Plan B has turned out to be a disaster

2014 Plan B - Yankees fail to sign Cano. Pivot to Ellsbury, Beltran, and McCann. Beltran was underwhelming, McCann is generally regarded as a huge flop, and Ellsbury's contract is often cited as a top-3 worst in Yankee history.

2019 Plan B - Yankees don't engage with Harper or Machado. Instead sign Britton, Happ, Ottavino, and DJ LeMahieu. Signed Aaron Hicks to that infamous extension too. Tbf DJ was very good in 2019-2020, but ended up haunting the Yankees over the past several years. As for Britton, Happ, and Ottavino...I completely forgot that they were on the team.

2022 Plan B - Fail to sign the flurry of young star infielders. Then make the infamous trade for Josh Donaldson and IKF. Instead of signing Freddie Freeman, they opt for Anthony Rizzo.

Now obviously Plan B often are not going to perform as well as the original plan (it's called Plan B for a reason) but a bigger issue is that the Yankees Plan B often are nearly as expensive as their Plan A. Yankees end up paying A- salaries for B (or worse) performances.

As a real life comparison...you want to buy a brand-new Toyota Camry for $30K. But it's out of your price range. So instead, you end up buying a 20 yr old used Pontiac Aztec for $25k. Yes you are saving a bit of money in the short-run. But in the long-run the Pontiac Aztec will be a significantly worse deal because of high mileage, poorer performance, unreliability, and maintenance costs.

Overall the big problem with Yankees Plan B's is that they are old, risky, and barely any cheaper than their Plan A.

I really hope that this year's Plan B ends up faring than the ones we've seen the past decade