You think the yankees are the front runners in signing cliff lee?

[Fnazxc0114]

Re: You think the yankees are the front runners in signing cliff lee?

the yankees have been outbid in the past. Either way it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

[xpress34]

Re: You think the yankees are the front runners in signing cliff lee?

Just throwing my .02 out there, but Lee seems more like a guy who will weigh other intangibles into his decision and not just chase the money.

He has already voiced his displeasure with Philly for basically dumping him after their WS appearance as he would have liked to have stayed and had another shot with them, but they didn't even try to keep him. As soon as the Halladay deal was done, Philly basically kicked him to the curb and sent him to Seattle.

I think the Rangers WS appearance - particularly if they win - and the closeness to his home will weigh very heavily in the Rangers favor.

I don't know if it's just Yankees fans or a general statement from others, but what I'm reading here is that most people think it's all about the money. There are plenty of players who have played for less than they could have gotten elsewhere in order to gain peace of mind, closeness to family, etc - intangibles that can't be measured in $$$.

I know it doesn't happen often, but there are those guys whose care more about the situation - team chemistry, how the team treated them, etc - than the almighty dollar and as I stated above, I really think Cliff Lee is one of those people.

As far as Leagle's comments:

Lee is going to the highest bidder. The Yanks have to be the favorites because they can outbid any team. This spitting incident means nothing just some guys having too much beer and acting rowdy defintely not enough to disaqualify a whole city and possibly leave millions on the table.

I'm glad to know that you and so many others already have knowledge that Lee is just a 'Gun for Hire'. Also, I wouldn't be so fast to say the Yanks can outbid any team - Greenburg and Co have already said this isn't 'your father's Rangers' when it comes to Off Season bidding and he is a Billionaire as well.

Finally, if you don't think Cliff Lee's wife's impression of Yankee Stadium and it's fans will impact his (their) decision, you don't know anything about Southern women. We have a saying down south:

"If momma ain't happy - ain't NOBODY happy." I can't say 'absolutely', but I am fairly certain that HER thoughts will weigh in as much if not more than the $$$ when this deal goes down.

We can revisit this when the dust settles and it's all said and done in the off season.

- Smitty

P.S. - For those who don't know, Greenburg already fired the initial 'salvo' when he publicly stated that the Rangers are ready to start the bidding at $100,000,000.00.

[CollectGU]

Re: You think the yankees are the front runners in signing cliff lee?

Lee's wife was spit upon, had beer thrown on her, and was cursed throughout the yankees series. We all know the yankees have some deep pockets, but i think the rangers have a lot of room in next years payroll to mmake a run at cliff. Plus the team is realy young and has a chance to be good for a long time.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Will-spitting-Yankee-fans-play-a-role-in-Cliff-L?urn=mlb-279919

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseb...-rangers_N.htm

$180 million contract will make her forget real quick. Either they will sign him or make Texas greatly over pay putting a drain on their finances...

Dave

[CollectGU]

Re: You think the yankees are the front runners in signing cliff lee?

Also, I wouldn't be so fast to say the Yanks can outbid any team - Greenburg and Co have already said this isn't 'your father's Rangers' when it comes to Off Season bidding and he is a Billionaire as well.

Just because he is a bllionaire doesn't mean he is willing to spend HIS money on Lee. If he operates within the Rangers revenue, they can't match the yankees. If he decides to operate at a deficit and spend his own money, then maybe, BUT very few owners are willing to risk their own finances or potentially losing the team like another billionaire, Tom Hicks.

Dave

[legaleagle92481]

Re: You think the yankees are the front runners in signing cliff lee?

Good point by CollectGU. The Steinbrenner family is defintely NOT the wealthiest ownership group in MLB but the team revenues are by far the highest year after year. Texas or any other team can't compete with them in that regard. The team practically prints money. Very, very few owners are willing to dip into their fortunes to pay player salaries. Keep in mind also that Lee is 33 next year and the last couple of years of a five or six year deal he could be a major payroll drain. Very few 37, 38, 39 year old starting pitchers are "aces" and the injury risk is very high. Look at Andy Petite he is 38 had a lights out first half got hurt in July and made three starts the rest of the year and in the playoffs his starts had to be pushed back due to new injuries. So this is not like when CC Sabathia became a free agent at 28 a couple of years ago and even then for such a young pitcher noone's offer came within tens of millions of the Yankees. If the Yankees go six years 180 million on Lee, would Texas or any other team make a comparable offer? In light of his age would it even be wise to?

In regard to new owners coming in with big talk look at Arte Moreno of the Angels. He has talked big alot over the years about how he is going to spend all this money on payroll, how great the team will be etc. and if you notice since he took over the team has actually slowly declined. They won a World Series under the prior group and after a few years of getting stuck in the LDS and LCS they didnt even make the playoffs this year. More importantly every time a decent player becomes a free agent on their team they don't resign him (Krod, Lackey, Tex, Figgins, Vlad, etc.), they waste money (Gary Matthews at 10 million a year) and buy low in trades for overrated pitchers (Saunders, Kazmir, etc.). But they always manage to get mentioned as a potential destination for the top free agents, those players just never go there and a better offer elsewhere is why. So until they actually put their money where their mouths are I would not look at it as anything but empty talk.

As far Lee not looking for just money. Hes human and noone leave millions on the table. Plus Sabathia is the highest paid pitcher, they are very close friends and don't think for a second he does not want to get close to or equal to him. The friendship is another factor favoring the Yankees. Mrs. Sabathia and Mrs. Lee are extremely close and their kids played together when they were both in Cleveland. Plus AJ Burnett and Lee are close and share an agent. So there are nonmonetary factors favoring New York as well.

[LastingsMilledge85]

Re: You think the yankees are the front runners in signing cliff lee?

xpress,

Not that he would even return to Philly, but they could of kept Lee and Halladay, but really couldn't. Yes, it sounds oxy-moronic but that really was the case. If they kept Lee than their farm system would of took a huge blow, and they would of had to maybe of traded Jayson Werth before the season started to free up salary because they really could not afford to maintain both pitchers. By moving Lee they replenish their farm system and free up salary. I don't know about you, but going into the 2010 season it would of been near impossible for me to let go of Werth after his 2009 season and not really having a formidable replacement to start the season in RF.

[cjclong]

Re: You think the yankees are the front runners in signing cliff lee?

If i had to chose between a rotation that started with Halladay and Lee or Weth in right field I would take Halladay and Lee in a heat beat.

[LastingsMilledge85]

Re: You think the yankees are the front runners in signing cliff lee?

If i had to chose between a rotation that started with Halladay and Lee or Weth in right field I would take Halladay and Lee in a heat beat.

Yeah, but the year Werth had in 2009, plus him becoming a huge fan favorite is tough to dispose of. Jayson Werth did not follow up his 2009 season so well, but was still a force and they just don't have an immediate answer if they were to let him go during the 2010 season. I guess they could of went after guys that had previous success, but maybe would consider lower price tags (Ankiel, Dye).The Phillies going into the 2010 season figured they had a solid rotation with Halladay, Hamels, Blanton, and Moyer/Happ/Kendrick. That's a formidable rotation, but unfortunately Blanton and Kendrick had a dreadful year, Moyer and Happ got injured, but pitched effectively when it was their days. Being in the NL East though I would have to take Halladay over Lee considering the lineups they would have to face more often because of the division.

[Neal]

Re: You think the yankees are the front runners in signing cliff lee?

From what I understand, Amaro was told that he can sign Halladay, but has to trade Lee. Halladay is a much better pitcher imo. It would have been nice to have Lee this past season, but that was silmply not going to happen. I have also heard that Lee was offered a deal, and basically was told that if he does not accept, they will trade for Halladay.

I am not so sure that either Werth or Lee will end up in NY. I think there is a small chance both return to Philadelphia, very slim.

[legaleagle92481]

Re: You think the yankees are the front runners in signing cliff lee?

The reason they got Halladay was because Lee said he was going to test free agency no matter what. Halladay wanted to pitch for a contender and was willing to forgo free agency to do so. Which he did when he signed an extension after the trade. To get Halladay cost them a haul in prospects. To keep both would have been cost prohibitive and they did not want to lose Lee for nothing at the end of the year so they saw the chance to upgrade their stable of prospects and save some money to use on a pitcher who would be there for a longer term which they got in Oswalt, who is signed for 2011. Werth did not have much trade value because some at the time felt 2009 was a fluke, he is over 30 and on a good time is the second or third best guy in a lineup. Plus he does not play a premium defensive position. They also thought at the time possibly that Werth would have not as good a year as 2009 and they would be able to lock him up. Lee had much more value hands down.

[Fnazxc0114]

Re: You think the yankees are the front runners in signing cliff lee?

What is the state income tax in NY and isnt there a city tax in NYC? In today's climate id think not having a state income tax in texas would allow ther rangers to offer less than the yankees. The rangers just signed a huge tv contract, and have a lot of room under what they project next years salaries to be. They realy dont have to worry about big contracts until 2012. Hamilton,cruz, wilson wont be free agents till after that season. still have andrus through 2014 etc. You could have put the rangers wifes in any section of yankee stadium and id gurarantee the same things would of happened. It wasnt a fluke what happened.

[Fnazxc0114]

Re: You think the yankees are the front runners in signing cliff lee?

Either way im glad the rangers have lee now. If anything us getting lee over the yankess shows how weak their minor league program is. The yankees gm is probablly the most overrated one in baseball.

[xpress34]

Re: You think the yankees are the front runners in signing cliff lee?

$180 million contract will make her forget real quick. Either they will sign him or make Texas greatly over pay putting a drain on their finances...

Dave

Dave -

As I said in my earlier diatribe, I personally don't think the money will be the major factor for Lee and his family. I may be wrong and only time will tell.

But, as I also said earlier - not in so many words - I love how everyone here thinks that every player and their families are driven by $$$.

I truly hope and believe that Cliff Lee will prove that to be wrong.

As far as the 'other considerations' in NYC brought up by other posters - CC and AJ and their wives - Lee's wife has already stated she really likes the are and the fact that they can be home in Arkansas by plane in 40 minutes. I guess we'll see if the old adage 'there's no place like home' rings true for the Lee's.

And Lee is playing now for a guy who did take less money for comfort - Nolan Ryan. When the Astros unceremoniously dumped him after 1988 (offered him 1/2 his current contract knowing he would walk) Nolan had no offers and went looking to play in Japan. The Rangers went to Japan and talked with him and signed him for a deal that YES, was better than the Astros, but was LESS than the Japanese team was offering for the chance to stay playing near home. Nolan has even said that the chance to be near his home and family was worth way more than the money.

Again, I guess we will all see and we can revisit this post AFTER the WS and AFTER November Deer Season in Arkansas when Cliff Lee decides to let us all know how he is leaning and where he will be signing.

All the best -

Smitty

[Fnazxc0114]

Re: You think the yankees are the front runners in signing cliff lee?

ther rangers did recently sign a realy nice tv contract. Should help with income and not be much of a strain on the payroll if they do sign lee.

[xpress34]

Re: You think the yankees are the front runners in signing cliff lee?

Okay, time to go turn on the tube and get ready for the Rangers 1st ever WS Game!!!!