“I think we’re all pretty much in agreement that this is it,” Hank Steinbrenner, the Yankees’ senior vice president, said in a telephone interview last night. “Make no mistake, I want him back, and that’s why this offer is what it is.”

Rivera was in the Dominican Republic on Monday, and his agent, Fern Cuza, did not return calls yesterday. Steinbrenner said he believed General Manager Brian Cashman was in contact with Cuza, but Steinbrenner said he did not know why Rivera has not decided on an offer that Steinbrenner says is more than generous.

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that it’s a tremendous offer for a 38-year-old relief pitcher,” Steinbrenner said. “He’ll be, by $4 million, the highest-paid relief pitcher in baseball, by far. I don’t know what the holdup is. The ball’s in their court.”