There is an increased belief that Soriano will opt out after this season and go after a longer deal as a result of him being the full time closer this season for a winning club. If that is the case, it will open up a good amount of money to use for other purposes.

Well he wasn't wrong in the sense that there's one more season to work with.

I'm not sure how "good" of a start it is; I merely based it on those players who are on contract to be with the team next year.

I would love to see Kuroda back for 1 more year. Next year's rotation: CC, Kuroda, Nova, Hughes, Pineda, and have Banuelos, Phelps ready in the wings if needed..

The Yankees don't have a dominant pitcher in the rotation. Someone you can look forward to giving you a great outing. Sabathia is the closest there is, and it just seems like he labors in each of his outings.

I'll give you all of them except Banuelos. He's been hurt for nearly all of the first half of the season in the minors this year, and all of a sudden the Yankees are going to throw the dice on a young kid who still has yet to fully prove himself in AAA?

Banuelos is not going to be ready next year, maybe for a Sept call up if he gets his innings in the rest of this year and all of next year, but that's a big "if" ?? He seems to have problems staying healthy as of lately ??

Why do people always insist on looking at these things as money coming off the books and working backwards as opposed to keeping a running total of what's on the payroll?! In 2014, we already have 75 million tied up Sabathia, Rodriguez, and Teixeira. If Jeter's option is picked up, that becomes 80 million. Rivera is coming back next season (Yankee for life) at probably 15 million dollars again. 95.
Now you need to allocate around 15 million dollars to fill out the back end of the 40 man roster and player benefits and what not. 110.
Let's ignore the "other free agent" thing, and focus on the Cano and Granderson thing for a second. It's going to take you 40 million minimum (and it'll be a LOT more than that, but for argument's sake) per year to get those guys signed. 150.
Gotta factor in a Rodriguez milestone bonus..156.
You have 33 million dollars left to work with, and your team currently has no catcher, no DH, one outfielder, one starting pitcher, and one bullpen guy. Judging by the likely arbitration numbers, Cano and Granderson (even without Swisher) doesn't even really look possible.

"Rivera is coming back next season (Yankee for life) at probably 15 million dollars again. 95."

When did 2013 become the new 2014 :p

Wow...proofread fail! That's my bad!
That said, I'm sure he'll pitch effectively till he's like fifty anyway.. that dude is probably the most ridiculously consistent player in baseball history. He simply does not have off years..

Oh I'd love to have him on the team (in some capacity) till the day he dies. I think he could easily pitch in 2014 too. It will be hard to get payroll down to 189 mil and stay as competitive, although I am not saying it can't be done if the right players perform and out prospects reach their ceilings without fail.

Even with certain prospects reaching their ceiling, "competitive at 189" probably still means we are either going to have to graduate two starting MLB OF'ers in the next two years or an OF and a second baseman from a system that really has neither.

I could be very wrong but right now Melky is leading all of MLB in hits and will be looking for a long term deal probably in the $20M per year range. Someone is going to give it to him but I'd wager it isn't going to be the Steinbrenners. Melky is going to command a lot more money than Swish and that type of salary isn't going to fit in the long range budget plans of the Steinbrenners.