Heyman: Yanks favorite to sign Cliff Lee
June 22, 2010, 1:30 pm by Chris H. · 47 Comments
Hey, how about a piece on Seattle’s Cliff Lee?
Via Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated:
The Yankees look like a favorite to sign Lee in the winter considering: 1) their vast wealth, 2) the potential loss of free agent Javier Vazquez and possibly Pettitte from the rotation, 3) their general admiration for Lee and 4) the Lee connections of CC Sabathia (a former teammate in Cleveland) and A.J. Burnett (he and Lee have the same agent), but it’s difficult to predict who’ll get him now considering the $4-$5 million he’ll be owed could be afforded by most contending teams.
The Mariners are thought to have some extra interest in a catcher, which could give the edge to the Twins (Wilson Ramos) or Yankees (Austin Romine, Jesus Montero and Francisco Cervelli). But the Yankees don’t appear to have an overwhelming need for a top-of-the-rotation starter, but will make a call, just in case they like Seattle’s asking price.
If you’re hoping the Yankees trade for Lee this season, I think it’s fairly clear that they intend on waiting until the crafty left-hander is a free agent to pursue him. As I have said in the past, that could surely change if one of the team’s 5 starting pitchers suffers a significant injury (and by significant, I mean season-ending). However, even then I think the Yankees might be inclined to piece something together internally. While Brian Cashman is far from a perfect GM, this is one of the issue I think he has a good grip on, meaning that he won’t sell the farm for a few months of Cliff Lee.
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