The Yanks also put out feelers to Jason Giambi's camp to see if the slugger was willing to be moved, a person familiar with the Yankees operations told The Post. However, as with A-Rod, the Yanks were told Giambi has no desire to waive his no-trade provision because he wants to stay and win in New York.

Bronx return or Houston send-off?: Pettitte, who is considering retirement but has offers from the Yankees (one year, $15 million) and Astros (unspecified) is expected to make a decision before Christmas, but multiple sources indicated Pettitte could decide soon, perhaps within a week.

The Yankees' search for a starting pitcher that will keep them from having to bank on a healthy Carl Pavano and Randy Johnson is narrowing. As Vicente Padilla came off the free-agent board, Ted Lilly and Barry Zito get little more than cursory interest from New York and Jason Schmidt still doesn't see East Coast dollars to override his West Coast preference, the Yankees have found the ideal solution: Andy Pettitte.

The free-agent left-hander, who is strongly considering retirement, is said to be intrigued with the idea of returning to pinstripes and "could possibly have a deal by the end of the week" with New York, according to a baseball source familiar with the negotiations.

As one rival AL scout observed in the lobby of the Dolphin Hotel: "What's with the Yankees? Are they even here? Everybody seems to be going crazy this winter and they're just sitting back watching it all."

"I'm patient," said Cashman, "but I'll be aggressive if it's something that makes sense. At the same time, I'm more than willing to go into spring training with what I've got."

Jeffrey Maier knocked on Brian Cashman's door at the Dolphin Hotel yesterday armed with an impressive booklet containing scouting reports he compiled this past summer in the Cape Cod League. ...

Maier, who set the career hits record (189) at Wesleyan (Conn.) this past season, is looking for a job in baseball operations.

"From Day 1, I've said time and time again, 'Alex is going to be fine.' When he was going through it, I said, 'He's going through a slump every player goes through, I don't care how good you are.' I said, 'He's a big part of the team.' I said, 'It's one of those things, and at the end of the year he's going to be exactly where he is all the time.'

"That's exactly what I said," Jeter calmly explained. "I said the only thing I wasn't going to do was tell the fans who they should boo and who they shouldn't boo." ...

"I got booed, Mo got booed, Tino got booed the first half of the season. Jason got booed," Jeter said. "Everyone got booed, but it's not your job to say, 'Hey, everybody should stop booing.'

Julio Zuleta is a right-handed-hitting first baseman with power who, according to Zuleta, hits Daisuke Matsuzaka very well. So do the Yankees, who are looking for a right-handed-hitting first baseman so Jason Giambi can DH, have an interest in the 31-year-old who clubbed 109 homers across the past three years in Japan? ...

The agent for Octavio Dotel has held talks with the Yankees about bringing back the veteran right-handed reliever, and has chatted about Keith Foulke, too.

"We have talked about both, more so Dotel," said agent Dan Horwits.

To that end, they have had conversations with free-agent right-hander Vicente Padilla, who was 15-10 with a 4.50 ERA for the Texas Rangers last year. A baseball official familiar with the Yankees' plans described Padilla as one of several free-agent pitchers on which the team is keeping tabs.

Cashman has other goals besides refining the rotation. The Yankees are pursuing another left-handed reliever and could bring back Ron Villone or sign the free agent Scott Schoeneweis.

"We have talked to the Yankees about [Pettitte and Clemens]," agent Randy Hendricks told The Post via e-mail yesterday. "We have also talked to other teams as well. No decision has been made, but I expect one to be made before Christmas by Andy. Who knows about Roger?"

At Joe Torre's "Safe At Home Foundation" dinner in November, Pettitte told friends a return to The Bronx was an option. ...

Craig Wilson remains a possible option in the Yanks' pursuit of a righthanded-hitting first baseman. Cashman has had a conversation with Wilson's agent, and the two are expected to talk again at next week's winter meetings. ...