The Associated Press

NEW YORK - Joe Torre knows the Yankees' payroll is likely to go down next year and the New York manager said baseball's new labor agreement is clearly the cause.

Under the labor deal, the Yankees estimate they will pay $55million in revenue sharing and luxury tax next year, up from about $33 million they gave other teams this year.

New York's payroll was about $135 million, by far the highest in the major leagues, and owner George Steinbrenner wants it to go down.

"It's going to be something less than what we had, I guess. It was aimed at George, and they're going to get their pound of flesh," Torre said Wednesday night at a benefit for the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America.

In his first extensive discussion of the Yankees since their 3-1 loss to Anaheim in the first round of the playoffs, Torre talked about the departures of relievers Mike Stanton and Ramiro Mendoza, the likely return of Roger Clemens, and the possibilities of signing Japanese outfielder Hideki Matsui or acquiring pitchers Bartolo Colon or Javier Vazquez from Montreal.

"Every year we've had people changing, some years more drastic than other years," Torre said. "Hopefully, we can replace them and keep going."

Torre said that while Colon and Vazquez are top pitchers, the Yankees have to worry about crowding. It appears the rotation will include Andy Pettitte, Clemens, Mike Mussina, David Wells and Jeff Weaver, and Orlando Hernandez and Sterling Hitchcock remain on the roster.