Derek Jeter is going to be paid Ryan Howard money for putting up Marco Scutaro numbers.

"The Yankees are going to overpay him," said a source with intimate knowledge of the discussions between the team and Casey Close, Jeter's agent. "The question is, how much are they going to overpay him?"

Several sources told ESPNNewYork.com on Monday that while the Yankees have yet to make a formal offer to Jeter -- or to Mariano Rivera, their other high-profile free agent, not to mention Cliff Lee, their primary target in the free-agent market -- offers are currently being prepared for all three.

And the one that is likely to get done first is Jeter's, possibly before Thanksgiving, with Rivera's soon afterward.

Lee's deal -- that is, assuming the Yankees outbid what is expected to be a field of perhaps as many as a half-dozen suitors -- is not expected to get done until mid-December, after the conclusion of baseball's winter meetings, which run from Dec. 6-9 in Orlando.

As for Andy Pettitte, the third member of the Yankees' so-called Core Four to be without a contract this winter, the club plans to wait to hear from the 39-year-old pitcher whether he plans to play again in 2011, a decision club officials believe will not be made until after Thanksgiving.

But the first order of business will be Jeter, whose 10-year, $189-million contract expired last Monday and who officially became a free agent for the first time in his 16-year career at 12:01 a.m. ET on Sunday morning when the Yankees five-day exclusivity window expired.

From conversations with two sources, both of whom requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the talks, Jeter's offer is expected to be for three years at somewhere between $15 million and $20 million per season.

That would be a slight paycut from his $21 million paycheck in 2010, but still well above the going rate for a shortstop who hit .270 last year and will hit his 37th birthday two weeks before the next All-Star Game.

"Some people will think the number is unfair," said one source, "And some are going to think it is way too much."

And both sources made it clear that in their opinion, Jeter will be paid more than he is currently worth on performance alone.

Both pointed out that when Jeter signed his contract after the 2000 Series, Jeter was 26 years old, coming off a regular season during which he batted .339 and a World Series of which he was named MVP.

Most importantly, the closest comparable deal in baseball was the 10-year, $252 million contract given by the Texas Rangers to Alex Rodriguez, at the time a shortstop like Jeter.

Ten years later, the price of free agents has come down significantly, and so has Jeter's production.