"I look at it as I?m going to be here for the duration of the contract," Sabathia said at the original Yankee Stadium.

A.J. Burnett followed the big left-hander into the old Stadium Club, making for $243.5 million worth of free agent starting pitching ? an essential part of the Yankees? winter renovation.

"I have a chance to win five years in a row here," said Burnett, who called his five-year, $82.5 million deal the culmination of a dream. "How often do you get a chance to put on pinstripes?"

Sabathia said he hadn?t thought of that concept much late last season, since it felt like he was pitching "every three days" for Milwaukee down the stretch. His 11-2 record and 1.65 ERA pushed the Brewers to their first postseason appearance since 1982.

In Toronto, Burnett (18-10, 4.07) was busy adding to his dominance against AL East opponents ? a 26-8 record and 3.08 ERA in 45 career starts, including 5-0 versus Boston.

"Guys that love the big stage do well here," manager Joe Girardi said, and a new stage nearly is set.

The new Yankee Stadium is four months from opening for business. That fact, and the Yanks? third-place finish in 2008, "adds an urgency to get back to where this organization wants to be," Sabathia said. General manager Brian Cashman surely subscribes.

Reluctant to follow a Plan B, there were days Cashman fretted that Sabathia would reject the Yanks and play in his home state of California. At the same time, Sabathia ? who named the Yankees, Brewers and Angels as his personal top three destinations ? worried that Cashman?s offer would come off the table.

"And I was worried about the public perception here. I didn?t want anybody to think I didn?t want to come here," Sabathia said. "That was all playing in my head."

An anxious person by nature, Sabathia said his month of free agency was "kind of a stressful deal. I was just trying to make sure I made a good decision, a right decision."

Sabathia, 28, wanted to live year-round wherever he chose to pitch, and plans to settle in the suburbs with his wife Amber and three children ? possibly in Alpine, where the couple toured homes Wednesday.

"You?ll love it," Johnny Damon?s wife, Michelle, an Alpine resident, recently told Amber Sabathia in a phone conversation. "It?s so family-oriented."

With his wife enthusiastically on board, Sabathia began to feel like a Yankee. He?d already received a recruiting call from Derek Jeter and stammered through a meeting with Reggie Jackson in Las Vegas.

After Cashman met him again, this time at Sabathia?s Northern California home last week, the lefty phoned the GM 10 minutes after Cashman departed.

"I looked at my wife, and I said [to Cashman], ?You know, I want to be a Yankee.? I still get chills thinking about that," Sabathia said.

Still, Cashman also was forced to commit to a seventh year (which Sabathia said was big for him) instead of a club option.

"He took the highest offer without a doubt," Cashman said.

The plan to get Sabathia in pinstripes dated back to last winter, when Cashman convinced ownership to pass on a trade of four prospects, including Phil Hughes, to Minnesota for Johan Santana and wait for Sabathia.

During the negotiations, Cashman shared that concept with Sabathia. "It was a dream that I had," Cashman said of keeping his inventory and landing Sabathia.

For the Yankees, the dream also extended to Burnett.

"Johnny Damon was working me pretty good. So was Alex Rodriguez," Cashman said. For years, Jeter said, ?You?ve got to trade for this guy.?

"I don?t know what it was," said Burnett, who was 3-1, with a 1.64 ERA against the Yankees this year. "Everything always worked when I pitched against these guys."

Money men

The salary of the Yankees' starting rotation last season compared to next season:

2008 starting rotation

Andy Pettitte: $16 million

Mike Mussina: $11 million

Chien-Ming Wang: $4 million

Phil Hughes: $406,350

Ian Kennedy: $394,275

TOTAL: $31,800,625

2009 starting rotation

CC Sabathia: $23 million

A.J. Burnett: $16.5 million

Chien-Ming Wang: $7 million*

Joba Chamberlain: $750,000*

Andy Pettitte: $10 million**

TOTAL: $57.125 million

* approximate figures, based on raises from '08 salaries;** has not accepted offer yet