Relax, Yankees fans; it's only December

A week ago today, there was some unease among Yankees officials regarding their pursuit of Cliff Lee.

Just before midnight the following day, those feelings of doubt - which had increased by the hour after the Yankees showed their willingness to offer a seventh year the previous Thursday and still had heard nothing from the Lee camp - were validated when the lefthander chose to sign with the Phillies.

It was an unquestionable setback for the Yankees, who entered the offseason with three primary goals: Re-sign Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera with relatively little drama - they earned a split there in terms of the drama - and sign Lee.

Two out of three isn't awful, though the current hole remaining in the rotation is gaping, especially with Andy Pettitte still pondering what he'll be doing in 2011.

But one big thing didn't happen just before midnight last Monday when Lee made his call. The division title wasn't decided, even though the Red Sox clearly are improved.

"There's a long time until spring training,'' one Yankees official said Tuesday. "We're very early in the game.''

He said later: "The sky isn't falling.''

General manager Brian Cashman took a similar tone. "We're not down and out at all,'' he said.

Some of that, naturally, is the Yankees running their rejection through the spin cycle, but the larger point is correct.

Uneasy lies the head crowned in the offseason.

The Red Sox, with their acquisitions of Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Bobby Jenks and Dan Wheeler, are better than they were in 2010. But it's much too soon to declare the Yankees' offseason a failure.

For one thing, as a Yankee official pointed out: "We're sitting there with some of the best prospects in baseball and the most money.''

The Yankees were prepared to shower Lee with about $150 million, and that money will be disbursed elsewhere. A deep farm system gives the Yankees plenty of chips to work with when it comes to trades.

The most commonly repeated phrase of the past week was Cashman's "our Plan B is patience,'' a line that didn't inspire the fan base but does speak of a pragmatism that, if employed, can allow for capitalizing on opportunities that inevitably present themselves down the road.

In terms of the rotation, that might not happen until the 2011 season starts. Front-end starters not thought to be available suddenly become obtainable when teams stumble early, with Lee a recent example this past season.

Very few at this time last year envisioned a scenario in which Lee, just traded to the Mariners by the Phillies, would be on the trading block at the 2010 deadline in July. But he was.

The starting pitching market as it looks now almost assuredly will look different one or two months into next season.

In the meantime, a look at the Yankees' roster shows a contender. It would have been better with Lee, to be sure, but it's hardly destitute without him.

In the Lee aftermath, Cashman addressed two needs. He signed Russell Martin as the starting catcher, and manager Joe Girardi got his desired second lefthanded bullpen option to go with Boone Logan when Pedro Feliciano agreed in principle to a deal, which will be announced after the pitcher passes his physical.

There is more to be done - another starting pitcher, bench reinforcements and another bullpen arm.

"Will we solve all the problems we have now?'' Cashman said. "I don't want to mislead anyone and say yes. It doesn't all have to happen in the wintertime.''

Which is OK.

Contrary to a lot of the discussion this past week, 2011's winners and losers won't be determined until then.