LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- With the Yankees turning down the proposed Brandon Phillips for Brett Gardner trade, the Yankees remain in a staring contest with the agent for second baseman Omar Infante.

A source told ESPN New York that Infante is looking for four years and $40 million in free agency. While the Yankees like Infante and need a guy just like him, they think that is too rich.

Infante hit .318 in 2013 could be the every day second baseman and could possibly be a replacement for Alex Rodriguez.

Meanwhile, sources say that the Yankees felt that Phillips is owed too much money and is in decline so they did not want to sacrifice their best trade chip for him. The Yankees also thought that if they did a deal for Phillips -- who strategically has them on his no-trade list -- he would ask for even more dough.

Phillips, 32, is owed $50 million over the next four years. His OPS has gone .810 to .750 to .706 the past three seasons. He is a tremendous fielder. It is unclear how he would handle New York considering last season he blew up at a Reds' beat guy who simply tweeted his on-base percentage.

Meanwhile, the price of Gardner is at least a No. 4 starter, according to sources. If they don't find their price, they are acting as if they will be very comfortable keeping Gardner and then cutting loose some of their other spare part outfielders.

Besides Gardner, the Yankees have Jacoby Ellsbury, Carlos Beltran, Alfonso Soriano, Vernon Wells and Ichiro Suzuki.

ELLSBURY AT 11: The Ellsbury press conference will be at 11 a.m. on Friday.

RULE V: The Yankees lost RHPS Tommy Kahnle, Mikey O'Brien, Kelvin Castro and Felipe Gonzalez in the Rule V Draft and OF Ravel Santana.

They did not pick any players because they have 40 players already on their 40-man roster.