Yanks to address GM, CC situations soon

Brian Cashman said Friday afternoon that he expected his weekend to be a quiet one. "I'll be here [in New York] all weekend," he said, meaning no flights to Tampa, Fla., to meet with Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner to discuss a new contract.

That very well could be taken care of this week, as all indications point toward the general manager and the club wanting to wrap this up.

Retaining Cashman is what team president Randy Levine called "the first order of business" after the season ended, and once that's taken care of, CC Sabathia's contract situation will become the focus. The lefthander has an opt-out that he's expected to exercise.

Over the weekend, one of Sabathia's agents, Brian Peters, told ESPN that "we will exhaust all of our efforts to reach a new agreement" with the Yankees. "CC has been clear about how he feels about New York and the Yankees," Peters said.

Reached later Saturday by another media outlet, Peters seemed to reverse course a bit, saying he didn't want to comment "one way or the other."

Three days after the end of the World Series, Sabathia can opt out of the final four years and $92 million left on the seven-year, $161-million deal he signed before the 2009 season. The Yankees, of course, can restructure his deal before the opt-out date and very well may attempt to do so before Sabathia hits the open market.

Cashman said in an interview Friday that no talks along those lines had begun, and Peters confirmed as much to ESPN Saturday, saying, "As of today, I've got nothing new to report."

Cashman has made it clear that on the Yankees' list of offseason priorities, Sabathia is near the top. "He's our ace,'' he said, "so he ranks highly."