LAS VEGAS — Nearly five weeks removed from the last time the Yankees played a game, their hitting department is still under review.

After Hal Steinbrenner blamed the offense for another season ending without a championship, turning up the heat on the seats underneath hitting coach James Rowson and Co., Brian Cashman said Tuesday that the club was “still working through our hitting coach situation.”

“It just takes time,” Cashman said during the general managers meetings at the Aria Resort and Casino. “So first, James Rowson’s a free agent [his contract expired]. He’s talking to other clubs at the same time, and we’re also engaged in the marketplace and also internally, determining what’s next and best for us. It’s not resolved yet, so I really don’t have any more to add. But that’s the current status of that.”

Time would seem to be of the essence, given that a lockout is looming and once it begins (at midnight Dec. 1), Aaron Boone and his staff will not be allowed to communicate with players on the 40-man roster. So if the Yankees are going to hire an external replacement for Rowson, it would behoove them to give him time to connect with his new players and offer some guidance for the winter.

“I’m working through thoughts and permutations and have had discussions about what’s best and what’s next,” Cashman said. “I’ll just leave it at that.”

In the meantime, the fates of Rowson and assistant hitting coaches Casey Dykes and Jake Hirst hang in the balance entering an offseason in which the Yankees will be hard-pressed to fix their offensive problems just by adding hitters from a limited free agent class or via trades.

Cashman said he has been “given a budget” by Steinbrenner — which he declined to reveal — as he tries again to construct a roster that can capture the franchise’s first championship since 2009.

The Yankees had the kind of pitching that could have fueled a deep October run this year, but their bats let them down while getting swept by the Rays in the ALDS in an all-too-familiar scene, giving way to an early offseason that has included plenty of former players criticizing the organization for losing its way.

“I know one thing is we’ll be instantly better if we have a healthy Aaron Judge,” Cashman said. “That’s a clear statement. That’s obvious. That’ll lengthen and deepen our lineup, but it’s my job to improve on all aspects of it, not just count on him coming back to fix everything.”

The Yankees finished the season ranked eighth in the majors, scoring 4.59 runs per game while their .720 OPS ranked 11th. But they struggled mightily to produce offense during the three-plus months that Judge missed with a broken rib and then flopped again in the playoffs while he was sidelined with a calf strain.

Cashman acknowledged his frustration in trying to determine why the offense fell off like it did in a season where Ben Rice was the only hitter who did not regress — some more than others.

“Why we did what we did in Tampa [in the ALDS] and why couldn’t we bottle up what we did against Boston [in the AL wild-card series], that I don’t know,” Cashman said. “That’s why we’ve had a lot of conflict conversations to try to find higher ground, understand if somebody’s got an opinion on it, can they really provide why that opinion is something that is worthy versus someone throwing some willy-nilly comment. But it’s been frustrating, because I know there’s some serious talent there. But it just wasn’t talented enough.”

Of course, a healthy Judge would have helped, as would Giancarlo Stanton, who was limited to a pinch-hitting role in the playoffs after missing five months with three separate calf strains. Cashman said the veteran DH will be in spring training with another chance to prove he is healthy, which has consistently proven difficult for Stanton.

But more immediately, the Yankees have to decide on their hitting coach — whether it is Rowson or a new voice — trying to achieve the same kind of success Matt Blake has had with the pitching group.

“The easiest thing is to get the nine best f–king hitters you can get that can play great defense and run perfect baserunning, that are athletic as hell,” Cashman said. “That’s impossible to do, mostly. So you get as close to that as you possibly can.”