LAS VEGAS — CC Sabathia and the New York Yankees agreed yesterday on the framework for a $161 million, seven-year contract, the richest for a pitcher in baseball history.

The Yankees and Sabathia's agents still need to work out all the details, a baseball official familiar with the talks told The Associated Press yesterday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been completed and the pitcher must pass a physical.

Sabathia has the right to opt out after three seasons and become a free agent again.

"I'm sure every team in baseball would love to have him. He's a guy who's an intimidating factor on the mound," Yankees captain Derek Jeter said at the winter meetings.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman left Las Vegas on Tuesday for a quick trip to the pitcher's home in the San Francisco area, sparking the final stages of negotiations.

"There's a lot of layers in the process. Until that process is completed I'm kind of prevented from saying too much," Cashman said. "Legally I've got to protect myself. And, you know, you're never done until you're done, and so, we're not done."

Cashman made a six-year offer to the former AL Cy Young Award winner on Nov. 14, the first possible day to negotiate with free agents, and met with Sabathia in Las Vegas on Sunday and Monday. He had told the pitcher's agents that if it would be helpful, he was willing to travel to meet with the Sabathia and his family in California.

Tuesday afternoon, Cashman received the invitation.

"I said, 'Let's go,' " he recalled. "When the opportunity was given, that's a flight I had to take."

He bought a one-way ticket for a flight to Oakland and took a car service to Sabathia's home in Vallejo, where he met with the pitcher, Sabathia's wife and children and Brian Peters, one of the star's agents.

Cashman joked about flying commercial.

"We're not the Red Sox," he said, a reference to the team's use of owner John Henry's private plane during negotiations with Daisuke Matsuzaka two offseasons ago.

"They certainly are not, thank goodness!" Red Sox president Larry Lucchino responded in an e-mail to the AP.

After putting the framework for an agreement in place, Cashman spent the night at a San Francisco hotel before taking an 8 a.m. flight back to Las Vegas yesterday. Yankees officials, meanwhile, participated in negotiations by phone.

Sabathia will give the Yankees a new marquee star as they head into the new $1.3 billion Yankee Stadium, where seats sell for up to $2,500 each. His deal will top the previous mark for a pitcher, a $137.5 million, six-year contract agreed to by Johan Santana and the New York Mets last winter. His $23 million average salary is just ahead of Santana's $22.9 million

Among all players, it will trail only Alex Rodriguez's $275 million, 10-year contract with the Yankees, A-Rod's earlier $252 million, 10-year agreement with Texas and Derek Jeter's $189 million, 10-year contract with the Yankees.

"He's left-handed. He's a tremendous competitor. His talent is obvious," Cashman said. "And he matches that with his character at the same time."