FREE agency began at midnight today. The raging speculation has been that the Yankees will sign CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and another high-end free agent or two such as Manny Ramirez, Derek Lowe or A.J. Burnett. General manager Brian Cashman termed that conjecture “crazy talk.”

In fact, in an exclusive interview with The Post, Cashman strongly indicated the Yankees will not even sign Sabathia and Teixeira in tandem.

“At the pricetags I have read, that is fantasy land, not reality land,” Cashman said yesterday of bringing in Sabathia and Teixeira. A Yankees executive said the club has not even created scenarios for assembling a 2009 roster in which it signs the most attractive starter and position player in the free-agent market.

The plan is to concentrate on starting pitching, namely Sabathia, and – at best – Teixeira is a backburner issue in case all the rotation avenues prove fruitless. Teixeira was pushed further to the backburner yesterday when the Yanks obtained Nick Swisher, who, as of now, projects to be the starting first baseman.

This offseason, therefore, is starting to mimic in planning the offseason of 2004-05. That winter the Yankees decided they could afford either an ace left-hander (Randy Johnson) or a Scott Boras-represented switch-hitter (Carlos Beltran), but not both. The Yanks opted for Johnson. They used the rest of their available dollars to round out the rotation with Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright.

Now they are prepared to hand Sabathia, a lefty ace, the largest pitching package in history rather than go for the defensively superb switch-hitter Teixeira, also a Boras client. Then they hope to fill out their rotation with some combination of Lowe, Burnett, Oliver Perez and Andy Pettitte. One Yankees official even made it sound that if Sabathia were signed, his cost would then possibly force the Yanks to bypass the projected next two most expensive starters (Lowe and Burnett) and go for Perez and Pettitte instead.

Now it is possible the Yanks can change their plans. They are the Yankees, after all, and last offseason they gave a record contract to Alex Rodriguez after saying they were done with the slugger if he opted out. Plus Hank Steinbrenner is always a wild card.

But it takes both Steinbrenner brothers to agree to spend this kind of dough, and Hal Steinbrenner is viewed as an ally in backing Cashman’s vision; and that vision this offseason is to “pour our money into starting pitching.” The Yankees GM does not want to get locked into more mega-deals for position players after retaining Rodriguez and Jorge Posada last offseason. Cashman, in fact, said the Yanks will not spend as much this offseason as when they guaranteed $372 million last offseason on Rodriguez, Posada and Mariano Rivera. The final price for Sabathia and Teixeira alone is likely to be between $300 million and $350 million, and the Angels badly want to retain Teixeira.

A Yankees official said the club has no plans to spend all of the approximately $88 million coming off the payroll. The expectation is the $209 million 2008 payroll will be sliced to the $190 million range or lower.

Cashman refused to state his budget or his wish list beyond “starting pitching.” But he was revealing in saying, “There has been speculation that we can pull down two or three of the top [free agents], and people are just getting carried away. That is not feasible. That is completely unrealistic.”

Swisher’s acquisition from the White Sox helps Cashman avoid the Teixeira market. Swisher is not a Gold Glover like Teixeira, but is considered above average at first. He also can play any of the three outfield positions. But even if he ended up there (with a trade of Johnny Damon or Xavier Nady), the Yanks would likely still avoid Teixeira. They worry Posada, Rodriguez or Derek Jeter could end up needing to play first during the life of what would be a long-term deal for Teixeira.

joel.sherman@nypost.com