The New York Yankees confirmed Thursday that they are highly unlikely to big on free-agent Max Scherzer.

"The chances of us bringing in a guy for six [years] and $25 million or over in my opinion is virtually none,'' president Randy Levine said. "At the end of the day you have to be realistic in any organization."

Levine did not mention Scherzer by name, but his comments echoed those of two sources who spoke with ESPN on Wednesday.

"He's a great pitcher," the source said of Scherzer, "but not even the Yankees can have three $25 [million] to $30 million pitchers on the payroll. You just can't."