Calm before the storm for Yankees

For the Yankees, this weekend is likely to be the last quiet one for a while.

Sources said no talks with the Yankees' own free agents, meaning Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, are scheduled for Saturday or Sunday, but those discussions are expected to start next week.

The priorities for the offseason remain the same, even with teams able to talk to all free agents as of 12:01 a.m. Sunday:

Re-sign Jeter and Rivera, then go hard after free-agent lefthander Cliff Lee.

Jeter, coming off a 10-year, $189-million deal in which he made $21 million in 2010, figures to be the most complex of the negotiations. A source close to Jeter said he will be looking for a raise; the Yankees clearly want him to take a pay cut. Privately, the Yankees acknowledge they will have to overpay for him and are prepared to do so. It's just a matter of to what degree.

Fans dreaming of either Carl Crawford or Jayson Werth in the Yankees' outfield can forget it. The Yankees are happy with their outfielders, and sources say managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner is resolute about keeping the payroll in the same neighborhood as it was in 2010, $206 million.

Jeter will get his money, Rivera figures to get a raise from the $15 million he made last season and Lee is likely to come on board for big money. In separate radio interviews earlier in the week, however, Steinbrenner made it clear that there will be enough money to go around.

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"We know we're expected to field a championship-caliber team and we're going to do what it takes to do that," Steinbrenner said on 1050 ESPN. "If we have to get creative in a trade or we have to go after a big free agent, we're going to do it."

That process will begin soon enough.

With Ken Davidoff