NEW YORK -- Yankees general manager Brian Cashman's earlier deals worked out so well that he didn't need to make any others Monday.

Boosted by the additions of David Justice, Denny Neagle, Jose Vizcaino and Glenallen Hill, the first-place Yankees are prepared to defend their World Series title with the roster they have now.

"I'm comfortable with the team we have," Cashman said about 30 minutes after baseball's trade deadline passed. "That's why we were able to walk away and say no. We were in a strong enough position that if we didn't get something done, we had good enough team."

As usual, the Yankees were prominently mentioned in rumors for many players -- some of who were dealt Monday -- including B.J. Surhoff, Rondell White, Jeromy Burnitz, Eric Owens, Matt Clement and Pedro Astacio.

Cashman, whose previous deals boosted the team's payroll to a major league high $109.4 million, said the team's biggest interest was in a left fielder, but nothing materialized, and New York will hold onto top prospect Alfonso Soriano for now.

"A few times things very intriguing would come together or almost come together," Cashman said. "But it never got to the point of bringing something to George Steinbrenner to sign off on.

"A lot of interesting things were proposed and we proposed a lot of interesting things," he said. "Ultimately we fell short in doing something. I feel comfortable with what we've done so far. Joe Torre has these guys playing good ball."

The Yankees were three games behind Toronto in the AL East when they acquired Justice on June 29 from Cleveland. They have gone 18-9 since then -- helped by the Neagle trade on July 12 -- and are three games ahead of the Red Sox and 4½ ahead of the Blue Jays.

New York has played only one team with a winning record during that span -- the Mets -- but the results obviously were enough to convince Cashman to stand pat. The team ERA went from 6.00 in June to 3.96 in July.

Justice has hit .369 with six homers and 19 RBI since coming to New York; Neagle is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA; Vizcaino is batting .299 and has provided valuable insurance for the defensively-challenged and injured Chuck Knoblauch at second base; and Hill homered is his first at-bat as a Yankee and hit a game-winning grand slam Friday.

The Yankees can make deals to bolster their postseason roster until Aug. 31, but players must clear through waivers to allow a trade to go through. Chad Curtis, traded to Texas in the offseason, could still come to New York to resume his role as a reserve outfielder.

"We will keep pursuing to see if something comes up," Cashman said.