The Yankees and Derek Jeter ended their protracted contract stalemate Saturday, agreeing to a three-year deal worth $15 million to $17 million annually that also contains an option for a fourth year, according to a person in baseball briefed on the matter. High-ranking club officials and Jeter's agent, Casey Close, negotiated late into Friday night and on Saturday, making substantial progress on a deal that includes a 'creative hybrid-type option' for the fourth year that is 'not vesting and is highly unusual,' the person said. The contract is pending a physical exam. Jeter accepted a pay cut from his 2010 salary of $21 million, but the deal ensures that he remains the highest-paid shortstop in baseball, ahead of Troy Tulowitzki, who last week agreed to a 10-year, $157.75 million deal to stay with Colorado. It also seems more of a victory for the Yankees, who after a tumultuous three weeks of negotiations appear to have conceded far less than Jeter, who was initially seeking a four- to five-year deal for $23 million to $24 million a year. With Jeter's deal done and the framework for Mariano Rivera's two-year pact in place, the Yankees are showing an urgency to resolve most of their own lingering contract issues before the winter meetings begin Monday in Orlando, Fla. There, they will focus on trying to sign the free-agent left-hander Cliff Lee, and it is doubtful that his discussions with the Yankees will take as contentious a turn as the team's discussions initially did with Jeter. As Hal Steinbrenner, the managing general partner, cautioned in a radio interview last month, the negotiations did indeed get messy, with Close calling the Yankees' strategy baffling and General Manager Brian Cashman responding by saying he was concerned about Jeter's age and his recent decline in performance. Jeter, who turns 37 in June, hit .270 last season, his worst average over a full season, and also set career lows in on-base percentage (.340) and slugging percentage (.370). The Yankees originally offered a three-year, $45 million contract. The tenor of the negotiations became more amiable Tuesday, when the sides convened in Tampa, Fla., with Steinbrenner participating. The Yankees on Thursday told Close that they would be open to sweetening their offer, though they stood firm in their desire not to guarantee a fourth year. Jeter averaged $18.9 million a year in a 10-year-contract that ran from 2001 to 2010. 