"The Yankees planned to present an initial proposal to CC Sabathia this weekend, but were not overly optimistic they could reach an agreement with their ace before Monday at 11:59 p.m., the deadline for the lefty to void the final four seasons of his contract.

Yankees officials met in Tampa earlier this week to finalize a strategy for dealing with Sabathia.

An official who has done a lot of business over many years with the Yankees said they generally do not submit an official offer to a player "until they know it is something the other side will accept or is darn near close to that." Thus, the Yankees still could be in a feeling-out period with Sabathia's representatives, Greg Genske and, specifically, Brian Peters before actually making a firm, written proposal.

If the sides have not reached some unanimity of ideas or covered a lot of ground already there probably will not be enough time to keep Sabathia from opting out. And as of 12:01 a.m. Thursday (Wednesday night), Sabathia could begin negotiating with any team. Players can talk to other teams starting tonight, but can not sign or receive economic offers from other teams until Wednesday night.

The Yankees are concerned about bidding against themselves. Sabathia has four years at $92 million left on his current seven-year, $161 million deal. The Yankees wonder how many teams are equipped to go that far or much further -- and then of those clubs, how many would Sabathia really want to spend possibly the rest of his career. For example, would Sabathia go to Washington or Detroit if either was the high bidder?

Nevertheless, it is possible he could be more enticed should the Cubs or Angels pay lucratively."