Yanks to put dismay aside, go back to work

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Brian Cashman talked briefly to Hal Steinbrenner on Friday, and the Yankees' managing general partner had very specific instructions for the general manager.

"He said, 'Take the weekend and we'll talk next week,' '' Cashman said Saturday afternoon. "No Yankees business this weekend.''

Cashman talked while on a Halloween shopping expedition with his daughter, and the disappointment from the Yankees' ALDS Game 5 loss to the Tigers still was fresh in his mind.

But Friday night, in some ways, brought a degree of perspective. Yes, in the Yankees' universe, a season is deemed a failure if it doesn't result in a world championship. But when the Phillies, far and away the class of the sport this season with 102 victories, lost to the Cardinals in NLDS Game 5, it demonstrated sports' age-old truism: There are no sure things.

"That reminds you, this is a challenging game, this is a difficult game,'' Cashman said. "Nothing's guaranteed. There's a lot of talent spread out everywhere.''

Cashman's contract expires Oct. 31. He repeatedly has said he wants to return as general manager, a post he's occupied since 1998. "That hasn't changed,'' he said.

Team president Randy Levine said in spring training, and as recently as Friday afternoon, that the organization wants Cashman back, a stance Steinbrenner himself repeated at the owners' meetings in August in Cooperstown, N.Y.

"Do I still love it?'' Cashman said of the job Saturday. "I do love it, but I don't get as high as I did at one time and I can still get pretty low. The highs aren't as high and the lows are just as low.''

But as Cashman said, "the game moves on,'' meaning the Cardinals will face the Brewers in the NLCS and the Tigers will take on the Rangers in the ALCS, which started Saturday night at Rangers Ballpark. "You're happy for those teams and sad for us,'' Cashman said.

As for Yankees business, that will commence this week, in small ways. Among the discussion topics are the club options on players such as Robinson Cano ($14 million), a certainty to be picked up, and Nick Swisher ($10.25 million), a near certainty. Pro scouting meetings also might begin this week.

After Cashman's contract, the biggest Yankees issue this offseason will be the opt-out clause that CC Sabathia is expected to exercise. Sabathia, 31, has four years and $92 million left on the seven-year, $161-million contract he signed before the 2009 season. He probably will be looking to at least match the five years and $120 million that 32-year-old Cliff Lee received last offseason.

"He's our ace, so he ranks highly,'' Cashman said after Thursday's loss, referring to the Yankees' priorities this offseason. "I can't predict how everything goes. We'll just take this thing one day at a time. The winter's come upon us, but I'm not here to talk about the winter right now.''

The Yankees also need to address the starting rotation in a mostly thin free-agent market. It's realistic to expect the Yankees to go after free-agent-to-be C.J. Wilson of the Rangers. But the meat of the offseason work, as the final four teams battle it out, must wait.

"It's a disappointing situation to be in,'' Cashman said Saturday of the sooner-than-expected exit this postseason. "But you have to move forward.''