MLB

Trip to scrap yard paying off for Yankees’ Cashman

With each signing of a used- to-be star this past offseason, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and his front office received greater abuse.

Agree to terms with Eric Chavez, Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia and unleash, “Hey, if the 2005 season breaks out, the Yankees are golden.”

Ink Russell Martin, Andruw Jones and Mark Prior and trigger, “I’ll take one-time NL All-Stars for $1,000, Alex.”

CAPTAIN’S QUEST FOR 3,000

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By the time the Yankees got around to Kevin Millwood and Carlos Silva, it just felt like throwing darts at a dartboard and those names came up rather than Kenny Rogers, Odalis Perez or Matt Morris.

Except, early this season it is proving to be not too late for Chavez, Colon, Garcia, Martin and Jones. Each has made a case to hold off on a baseball obituary.

“One thing to remember is that all of these players were stars,” said Billy Eppler, the Yankees’ director of professional scouting. “If you are going to do a reclamation project then do it with these types of players because if there is still something there and it comes out, you are getting all or a big part of a star. What do you get with a reclamation project of an average player?”

In other words: Fix a jalopy and the most you could get is the best version of a jalopy, but restore a Mercedes, well, you get something worth having.

Thanks to two members of The Restorations — Martin and Chavez — the Yankees beat the Rangers 6-5 last night. Martin homered in the fifth inning with Chavez aboard. And, with the score tied and two out in the eighth, Chavez delivered the go-ahead RBI single.

Will the good old days continue for this over-and-done crew? The odds are strongly against it, considering either age or fragility. Just consider that after two starts Chris Young looked like Cy Young for the Mets and now, familiarly, is on the disabled list again with more arm problems.

But, at a moment of need, the Yankees have been able to rely on The Restorations to produce the only winning record (9-5) in the AL East.

Martin has been the most valuable of the group. A two-time All-Star who crumbled physically and production-wise for the Dodgers, Martin was signed by the Yankees and told defense must be his priority. Offensive contribution was viewed as a fringe benefit, especially because the Yankees were braced for a severe dropoff with one of the 10-best hitting catchers ever, Jorge Posada, becoming the designated hitter.

Except, Martin has four homers, one less than last year and one more than any other catcher in the majors. His .933 OPS also leads all receivers.

Chavez is not playing nearly as much as Martin, who has played every inning of all but one game. But Chavez’s ability to play third base is key. The Yankees scouts assigned to watch him in the offseason were told Chavez would be of no use unless he could still play third, where he was a Gold Glove winner before his body began to betray him. The Yankees felt they needed to upgrade offensively from Ramiro Pena when Alex Rodriguez was unable to play.

Chavez showed enough agility to get a minor league pact, turn that into a major league job in the spring and to start at third last night when Rodriguez (back/oblique) could not play.

“Of course you would rather have Alex,” hitting coach Kevin Long said. “But to have a fill-in the caliber of Eric Chavez, with his bat speed back, that is a big plus for us.”

Rodriguez was 9-for-21 lifetime against Rangers reliever Arthur Rhodes with two homers. But he was unavailable to pinch-hit. So Chavez had to bat with first and second and two out in the eighth inning. In the past two years, he had just 27 at-bats against lefties and three hits. But he lashed a single to center off Rhodes to score Mark Teixeira with the decisive run and score some more points for The Restorations.

Cashman and his staff were not looking for rekindled greatness from this group. The roles were more limited, specific, meant to create depth — and the salaries matched. The five Restorations are guaranteed $9.4 million combined. So far it is money well spent, and not just on nostalgia.

The 2005 season has not broken out, but the Yankees like how their old Mercedes are driving in 2011.

joel.sherman@nypost.com