In the days that followed the Yankees' stunning collapse in the AL Division Series, club officials braced for the worst. Actually, it was the familiar that they feared: an in-house inquisition from George Steinbrenner, who'd demand to know how his $142 million team could've been wiped out by the Angels in four games.

We know The Boss. We know his impulses. We know them by heart. That's why his reaction to a suddenly-empty October has been such a surprise: Steinbrenner hasn't just been graceful in defeat, he's been virtually silent.

	Roger Clemens Starting Pitcher New York Yankees Profile
	2002 SEASON STATISTICS GM IP W-L BB K ERA 29 180 13-6 63 192 4.35

In fact, the most pointed post-mortems have come from the players, particularly Jorge Posada and Orlando Hernandez, who questioned whether the Yankees played all that hard in the ALDS, or if they accepted defeat a little too easily.

"After (Game 4) was over, some of the guys seemed like we lost a regular game," Posada told reporters after the Bombers returned home. "That's tough to swallow. I can't understand that. That's the feeling I got. I take a lot of pride in winning. It's tough to get where we got. Winning is everything. You work so hard to get there, to lose like that."

Hernandez echoed that sentiment, asking rhetorically "Why did we lose? Did we try as hard as we always do?"

The right-hander answered his own question, saying, "I don't think so. (The Angels) looked faster than us. They had more energy than we did. They pitched with more fire. What did we do? Did we take our work as seriously as they did? Did we try hard enough? That is a question that we have to think about until next year."

Of course, the Yankees will never truly know why their pitching failed them so miserably -- none of their starters lasted more than 5 2/3 innings -- or why their 103 regular-season victories somehow failed to prepare them for the Angels. For now, Steinbrenner is accepting GM Brian Cashman's explanation that, despite the Yankees' enormous on-paper talent, "we just got out-played in October."

The Boss gave his lieutenants a week to digest the playoffs, and was so philosophical in defeat, he even issued a statement through noted publicist Howard Rubinstein. In it, The Boss said, "there is an old Scottish proverb that says, 'I am wounded but I am not slain. I shall lay me down and bleed a while then I shall rise and fight again.' "

	Andy Pettitte Starting Pitcher New York Yankees Profile
	2002 SEASON STATISTICS GM IP W-L BB K ERA 22 134.2 13-5 32 97 3.27

But don't mistake Steinbrenner's calm for oblivion. He knows it's been two years since the Yankees have won a World Series, which is why he's promising changes before the 2003 season. Unlike past seasons, however, there's not much the Yankees can do to remake their core.

Jason Giambi, Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada are all signed to multi-year contracts, and Alfonso Soriano is nowhere close to free agency. The Yankees are similarly committed to Mike Mussina and David Wells, and Mariano Rivera has said he won't invoke the opt-out clause in his contract, meaning he's staying put through 2004.

How the Yankees will evolve over the winter, then, depends largely on whether they retain Roger Clemens and whether the club exercises its $11.5 million option on Andy Pettitte. The Yankees intend to resolve the Clemens issue quickly, although the Rocket is sending mixed signals about his 2003 intentions.

Friends and family say the right-hander has only one desire -- to continue and ultimately finish his career in the Bronx. For whatever reason -- perhaps at his handlers' suggestion -- Clemens has publicly hinted at retirement. No one really believes that. In fact, club officials fully expect agents Randy and Alan Hendricks to turn the Rocket into a full-fledged free agent and test his market-value.

Clemens is already owed $10 million in deferred money from the Yankees, so any salary he commands from Steinbrenner will be paid on top of that. Question is, will the Yankees commit another $15 million for a pitcher who'll be 41 next year -- one who, for all his breathtaking velocity, was unable to smother the Angels in Game 1, and allowed Anaheim to set the tone for the rest of the series?

Lucky for Clemens that Steinbrenner has a deep, personal affection for the pitcher and will likely veto any attempt by the Yankees' hierarchy to let the Rocket leave. But the Yankees are just as fortunate, knowing there'll be few bidders to compete with them. Who, other than the Red Sox or maybe the Astros or Rangers, will invest as heavily as the Bombers in Clemens?

Resolving the Pettitte issue won't be nearly as difficult. Even though the left-hander pitched poorly against the Angels, it's almost impossible to imagine the Yankees letting him leave. Pettitte is still relatively young (30) and has averaged 16 wins a season since 1995. His 3.28 ERA in 2002 was the second-lowest of his eight-year career.

Still, the Yankees have to create room in the rotation for Jeff Weaver, to whom the club has promised a starting spot in 2003. That could mean Orlando Hernandez' tenure in New York is over, even though he wants to return. But the future belongs to Weaver, or as Joe Torre put it, "it's kind of tough to keep the guy who led the (American) League in shutouts in the bullpen."

A much juicier what-if scenario is unfolding around Soriano, whom the Yankees insist will remain at second base in 2003 and beyond. Club officials deny there's talk of moving the 24-year-old slugger to the outfield, perhaps to center field and shifting Bernie Williams to left, to take advantage of his enormous speed -- while keeping him away from the tough ground balls that periodically ate him up over the summer.

Third base coach Willie Randolph, who tutored Soriano, said, "I think he's going to be a good second baseman, a very good one. I don't see any reason to switch him."

Even if the Yankees were to move Soriano to the outfield -- as they'd planned to do last winter, had they been successful in acquiring Roberto Alomar from the Indians -- there'd still be a vacancy in the infield. Maybe two, actually.

The club has yet to decide whether to re-sign third baseman Robin Ventura, who's eligible for free agency, or to allow rookie Drew Henson to begin his full-time apprenticeship. Ventura finished with 27 HRs and 93 RBIs, but batted only .224 in the second half.

Bob Klapisch of The Record (Bergen County, N.J.) covers baseball for ESPN.com.