http://tinyurl.com/4tpmj2 BRIAN Cashman shunned a trade last winter for Johan Santana essentially for this reason: He did not think it was the proper moment in an ongoing renovation process to invest the level of prospects and dollars necessary to obtain even someone as special as the left-handed ace. He was looking toward when the farm system had a little more time to grow and the payroll had a little more time to decrease to make such a bold move. In other words, he was waiting until now. The Yanks have roughly $88 million in salary potentially vanishing, and Yankees officials already are building toward a consensus how to use those dollars. Based on multiple interviews the initial plan looks like this: 1. Sign at least one and, preferably two, starters from among free agents CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe. 2. Re-sign either Mike Mussina or Andy Pettitte. 3. With the rotation deepened by free agency, use pitching prospects in particular to obtain a prime-age, high-ceiling player at first or in the outfield. Then use minor trades or free agency to address other areas. As one Yankees official said, "No plans ever go how you expect." And you can see how problems could arise in filling those rotation needs. Sabathia and Lowe have a West Coast preference, and Sabathia favors the DH-less NL. Burnett is friends with Carl Pavano, and his chum is not exactly an "I love New York" kind of guy. Conversely, the Yanks must worry about Sabathia's heavy workload. Lowe is 35 and the last time he pitched in the AL East as a 2004 Red Sox he had a 5.42 ERA (but he also won the clincher in each round during Boston's Curse-defying championship). Burnett may share more than a Marlins past with Pavano. He may only push himself for big money. Consider that he has exceeded 200 innings three times: The year before becoming arbitration eligible and both seasons before he was eligible for free agency. But as a way to gain a window into their offseason thinking, let's give the Yanks essentially the rotation they desire: Sabathia, Burnett, Pettitte (Mussina is leaning stronger toward retirement), Wang and Chamberlain. The Yanks want a deep rotation because it gives them a chance to win any game. Nevertheless, it also allows the Yanks to potentially form a Triple-A rotation from among Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, Jeff Marquez, Chase Wright, Alfredo Aceves and Phil Coke. In four of the past five years, major league teams have used between 302 and 304 starters. That means 10 per team on average. So you better imagine a functional second rotation when building a team. --

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