Texas Rangers and New York Yankees courting Cliff Lee
The Texas Rangers have taken their first steps in re-signing Cliff Lee by meeting with the ace pitcher in Little Rock Arkansas. CEO Chuck Greenberg, club president Nolan Ryan, and general manager Jon Daniels met with Lee and his agent Darek Braunecker on
Monday, but they have yet to submit an offer.
“We just went over there and visited with them, see if they have an interest in coming back,” Ryan said on Tuesday. “I think they do. We didn't make an offer. We left it open-ended. We said we'd get back to them. They don't have a time frame.”
Brian Cashman, general manager of the deep pocketed New York Yankees, travelled to Arkansas last week to meet with Lee. The Rangers are expecting heavy competition from the New York Yankees after Lee pitched eight scoreless innings against them in Game 3
of the American League Championship Series (ALCS) this year. Lee allowed only two hits and struck out 13 in the game. Texas beat the Yankees in six games to advance to the franchise’s first World Series appearance.
"I think they will make a hard push," Ryan said on the Yankees, who were quick to make their intentions to sign Lee known after the World Series.
Braunecker said on Monday that any decision would probably not be made until the Winter Meetings, which will take place between 6 and 9 December in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
Lee is one of the top pitchers in the MLB, and it’s expected that he’ll be looking for top dollar. He won the 2008 American League Cy Young Award, and has appeared in the past two World Series.
"At the end of the day, Cliff and his family are going to have a number of good choices," Daniels said. "We think we've got some things to offer, but obviously some other clubs do, too. At the end of the day, he's going to make a decision that's right for
him and his family and go to a place where he feels he's going to have a chance to win and be happy and be compensated fairly."
The Rangers decided to not negotiate a contract extension with Lee during the season because they wanted him to keep his focus on getting the team into the playoffs. The decision may have opened the door for Lee to move to another team, but it may have also
been key to a very successful season for the Rangers.
"We put everything on the backburner when he was with us for the last four months or so," Daniels said. "We didn't want any distractions. We wanted everything to be about winning in 2010 and the playoffs. I'm glad we did that."
Lee was traded to the Rangers on 9 July from the Seattle Mariners for first baseman Justin Smoak, infielder Matt Lawson, and pitchers Blake Beavan and Josh Lueke. Also coming to Texas in the trade was reliever Mark Lowe.
Lee wasn’t his dominant self in the regular season with the Rangers, going 4-6 with a 3.98 ERA, but he was fantastic in the first two round of the playoff, beating the Tampa Bay Rays twice in the opening round, and the Yankees once in the ALCS. He lost both
his starts in the World Series against the Tim Lincecum and the San Francisco Giants.
The Rangers and Yankees could find themselves amongst a group of teams interested in Lee. The Washington Nationals have expressed their interest, and there are reports that a number of other teams could look to acquire Lee’s services.
"I'm sure there's not just two teams interested in him," Daniels said. "I'm confident in that."
Lee has a career record of 102-61 with a 3.85 ERA, 1085 strikeouts and only 350 walks.
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