Yankees hope to make progress with Jeter this week

The case of Derek Jeter vs. the Yankees has gotten off to a much quieter start this week than last.

Of course, it is early.

Neither general manager Brian Cashman nor Jeter's agent, Casey Close, returned calls Monday, but a source said the Yankees hope to restart talks with Jeter this week and make at least some progress before the winter meetings, which begin Monday. Nothing had been scheduled, however.

As much of baseball seemed to ease back into work Monday after the long holiday weekend, it figures to be a busy week, certainly for the Yankees, leading up to those meetings in Orlando, Fla.

The Yankees would like to make progress on all of their offseason priorities, starting with Jeter. With Mariano Rivera, who turned 41 Monday, apparently making it known he wants a two-year contract, settling on a dollar amount isn't expected to become the tussle the Jeter talks already have become.

The sides are far apart, with the Yankees not yet showing an inclination to move significantly from their three-year, $45-million offer. Jeter has asked for a four- or five-year deal for $23 million or $24 million per year.

Talks with coveted free-agent lefthander Cliff Lee are expected to pick up this week, with Lee's agent, Darek Braunecker, telling ESPN over the weekend that he and Lee could meet with up to three teams in advance of the winter meetings. Said Braunecker, "It's probably fair to say we've got a half-dozen teams in the mix."

But with many believing Lee is looking for a deal in the neighborhood of six years at as much as $23 million per season, it will be a major surprise if anyone but the Yankees is the last team standing.

The time also is approaching when the Yankees should find out about Andy Pettitte's intentions. A source told Newsday last week that the 38-year-old lefthander, who signed his 2010 deal last Dec. 9, is leaning toward returning in 2011.

Monday was a far cry from the start of last week, which began with Close calling the Yankees' negotiating strategy "baffling" and Cashman firing back with the suggestion that Jeter is free to look elsewhere if he doesn't like the team's offer.

It was the fulfillment of managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner's prediction from weeks earlier that the negotiations could get "messy."

Still, despite the heated verbal volley of last week, it is almost impossible to find anyone in baseball who thinks Jeter will play for anyone other than the Yankees next season.

That includes one of his teammates, rightfielder Nick Swisher, who was asked about Jeter during an appearance Monday afternoon on the Fox Business Network.

"He's the face of the franchise," Swisher said. "He's done so much for this team, so much for the city and so much for the game of baseball. Who knows what's gonna happen, but I could not see him in any other uniform than the pinstripes."