HOUSTON — Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera faded to black, the ceremonies and tears finally at an end.

Robinson Cano and Derek Jeter exited to mystery. Are they the once and future double-play combo? Or will Cano follow the dollars elsewhere and will Jeter be unable to effectively rehab his damaged ankle? We are months away from answers to each.

With just the second playoff-less season in two decades complete, the immediate agenda focuses on three items that will shape not only the 2014 Yankees, but the near future of the organization as well:

ALEX RODRIGUEZ’S FUTURE: His arbitration is set to begin Monday. The Yankees are hoping for a quick resolution — shortly after the World Series would seem to be the quickest possible — so they know whether A-Rod is part of next year’s team or not and have as much time to plan accordingly.

And, obviously, they are rooting like heck arbitrator Frederic Horowitz upholds the 211-game suspension. The Yankees are going to try to get under the $189 million luxury-tax threshold for next season. And if A-Rod is back, they would have to budget him for $33.5 million — the $27.5 million average of his salary plus the $6 million bonus he would be in line for if he hits six more homers to reach Willie Mays’ 660. That would destroy offseason plans to do anything much, maybe even to keep Cano.

So the Yankees are a little more than interested bystanders to this process. A-Rod has said he plans to fight and fight hard for his legacy and playing future. But I have wondered for quite a while if his main goal in appealing was to play the last third of this season, knowing this might be the healthiest he will ever be again.

It is possible A-Rod’s side will watch the beginning of MLB’s case and make a determination from that whether to try to seek a shorter sentence — 100 games, 150 games, a season. And does MLB relent because it knows Rodriguez has the financial resources and legal/investigative team to go scorched earth?

That might not be a winning strategy in the arbitration room, but the Rodriguez side could put MLB and Bud Selig essentially on trial, threaten to go to federal court, dirty up a lot of folks. Destroy legacies. Cost jobs.

By the end of this week, we should have a much better idea of just how dug in and vicious both sides will be.

JOE GIRARDI’S FUTURE: Girardi spoke at length Sunday and sounded more like a guy who wants to return than at any time this season. And Yankees officials have made it clear they want him to do so.

But there are real opportunities out there for Girardi. Tim McCarver’s spot in the Fox national booth is opening. Harold Reynolds and John Smoltz are perceived as strong candidates. But sources said the network loves Girardi and would strongly consider him.

Also, as early as Monday, the Cubs might fire manager Dale Sveum. The Cubs have hemorrhaged nearly 400,000 fans in the past three years at Wrigley Field and are not expected to be major players in free agency. Thus, to better sell a rebuilding plan to disillusioned and departing fans that promises no special results before 2015, they could look to Girardi as their “star” purchase.

He would come with not only championship pedigree and a reputation as one of the better managers in the sport, but also a hometown guy (from nearby Peoria, went to Northwestern, played for the Cubs). Owner Tom Ricketts and influential team president Crane Kenney are said to be huge fans of Girardi.

Girardi has played the leverage game before with the Yankees, and he certainly has leverage here. But on Sunday, he said finances would matter zero to him and his ties to Chicago are greatly diminished from the past. Again, he sounded like a man who wanted to stay to fix the Yankees.

THE FUTURE’S FUTURE: At the highest levels of the organization, there has been frustration and anger about the lack of young talent available this season as injuries mounted. The Yankees used a team-record 56 players, none you can call a high-end prospect — and there appears to be none on the horizon.

Within the industry there is a sense there will be a scapegoat or two for that, and that it will not be Girardi or GM Brian Cashman, who has a year left on his pact. Instead, two longtime organizational employees are perceived as most in peril: Damon Oppenheimer, who is in charge of the draft, and Mark Newman, who is in charge of development.

The Yankees, for all the caricatures of George Steinbrenner’s firing squad, have been mainly an insular group. Will the lack of young talent motivate them to try to reach into an organization that drafts and develops well — such as the Cardinals — to make a significant hire or two to restructure how this business is done?