Here’s an update of the chart I posted two weeks ago comparing the Yankees’ 2008 payroll to their 2009 commitments:

all costs in millions of dollars; *estimated prorated portion of 2008 salary

As you can see, even after signing CC Sabathia, Mark Teixiera, and A.J. Burnett, the Yankees’ commitments for 2009 are still within $4 million of their 2008 payroll. That number will increase. Coming off a career year, Xavier Nady will earn a few million more via arbitration (Brian Bruney and Melky Cabrera are also arb-eligible, but unlikely to get significant raises), and there’s still a chance that the Yankees will add payroll via a one-year deal for Andy Pettitte or an alternate fifth-starter or a veteran center fielder. There are also automatic incremental raises due to the team’s pre-arbitration players based on major league playing time. Even still, the net change in team payroll will be negligible relative to the massive dollar figures connected to those three new contracts.

It’s also worth noting that Burnett and Sabathia will earn the exact same amount in each year of their contracts (for Sabathia his 2009 earnings combine a $9 million signing bonus and a $14 million salary, but his salary in every other year of the contract is an even $23 million), while Mark Teixeira will actually earn less in the subsequent years of his contract as his 2009 earnings combine a $5 million signing bonus and a $20 million salary, but he’ll earn “just” $20 million in 2010 and $22.5 million in each subsequent year of his deal.