Ask Joe Torre about the Yankees' impossibly overcrowded starting rotation, and his default response is a helpless shrug, a weak smile and a hope that an epiphany will somehow arrive before Opening Day. Until then, Torre says, "We'll sort it out as we go along."

That'll be the corporate mantra for the next six weeks, as Torre tries to sift through the pitching excess dumped on him by owner George Steinbrenner. Although the manager isn't dropping any early hints, at least three rotation spots -- belonging to Roger Clemens, Mike Mussina and Andy Pettitte -- are non-negotiable.

	Jose Contreras, right, dons a Yankees' cap and jersey for the first time Thursday.

That leaves David Wells, who's coming off a 19-win season and, given his most-favored nation status with Steinbrenner, otherwise untouchable. And Jeff Weaver was given a man-to-man promise from Torre that he wouldn't be relegated to long relief for the second year in a row.

This scenario could mean Jose Contreras and Sterling Hitchcock will become the most expensive middle-relief duo in history -- a combined $14 million to act as a bridge to Mariano Rivera.

It's no surprise that Hitchcock is headed for the bullpen, assuming the Yankees can't trade him. But the possibility of letting Contreras pitch in relief, or even in Triple-A Columbus in April, makes him a human billboard for the Yankees' depth -- or excess, in the eyes of the anti-Yankee army.

If it's crazy, however, don't expect Contreras to say so. He sees no insult and has no objection to pitching in the bullpen. As the right-hander insisted in a Yankee Stadium press conference Thursday, "It's always been my dream to pitch for the Yankees, so anything they ask of me is OK. Anything."

Still, only the Yankees could court the international community's most talented pitcher, pay him $32 million for the next four years, and then entertain the thought of not starting him. Such gluttony is the rule, not the exception, in Steinbrenner's payroll-without-borders, now that it's pushing toward $170 million.

Yet the Yankees have a legitimate need for relief help, since they made no effort to keep free agent Mike Stanton, Ramiro Mendoza is now with the Red Sox, and Steve Karsay is coming off back surgery and may not be ready by April. If Karsay heals quickly, the Yankees are still counting on Chris Hammond to replace Stanton as one of the lefty set-up men and will take a long look at Antonio Osuna and Juan Acevedo as middle relievers.

Hitchcock could serve in a similar role as Hammond, although he'd probably be used earlier in the game and primarily against left-handed hitters. As for Contreras ... well, the Yankees admit the choreography is vague, simply because club officials know so little about him.

	“	The good thing is that we don't have to figure it all out for a while. ”
		— Joe Torre, Yankees manager, on his club's overcrowded pitching staff

In fact, the Yankees' entire courtship of Contreras was based on the wildly enthusiastic reports from their international scouting staff. Vice president Gordon Blakely, who signed Contreras in December, said the Yankees had been following the pitcher's career with the Cuban national team ever since he pitched in the 2000 Olympics in Australia.

That's when Blakely said, "We were told, 'If this guy ever becomes available, go after him.' " The Yankees had their chance last October when Contreras defected, established residency in Nicaragua and was declared a free agent by Major League Baseball. That was the break the Yankees were hoping for, because as Blakely said, "We would've never been able to get a pitcher this good in the (amateur) draft, because he'd definitely be a first-round pick."

The Yankees like Contreras' fastball, clocked between 93-97 mph, and they say his splitter reminds them of Clemens'. And unlike Japanese slugger Hideki Matsui, who's never tested himself against major-league pitching, the Yankees know Contreras' arsenal is good enough to dominate hitters in this country -- evidenced by his 10-strikeout performance against the Orioles in a 1999 exhibition game.

Question is, can Contreras pitch out of the pen? He throws hard enough to get late-inning strikeouts, so his conversion, no matter how temporary, would probably be a success. But should the Yankees even be considering this, just to allow Torre to keep a promise to Weaver?

General manager Brian Cashman said, "I'm open-minded to everything, so we'll see what happens in the next few weeks."

What the GM isn't saying, of course, is that sooner or later, one of his pitchers is likely to get hurt. That's not fatalism, but a realistic view of a staff that has a 40-year-old ace (Clemens), a 39-year-old No. 4 starter with a history of back problems (Wells), and a younger but even more fragile lefty who spent two months on the DL last year with a mysterious elbow injury (Pettitte).

Contreras, by contrast, is an imposing-looking 31-year-old, standing 6-foot-3 and seemingly indestructible. If the creases on his face suggest he's closer to 40 than 30, however, the Yankees say that looks are deceiving. Contreras has produced at least 10 documents certifying his age, and agreed to a clause that says his contract can be voided if he's ever caught lying about his date of birth.

Not that the Yankees are actively checking. They trust Contreras and accept that his birth certificate and gratitude are both real. No wonder the Yankees aren't worried about this winter's population explosion in the bullpen, or the economic absurdity of paying a set-up man $8 million a year.

None of it makes sense. Not now. Not yet. But as Torre says, "The good thing is that we don't have to figure it all out for a while."

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