Reports: Yankees out on Lee; ace said to be headed to Philly
Posted by: Sam Borden - Posted in Misc on Dec 13, 2010 
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If you’ve been following the reports tonight you know that the ball seems to have been rolling this way for a few hours now, but word from SI’s Jon Heyman is that the Yankees have been told they are out on Cliff Lee. There is also a report that the Rangers have been told that Lee will be signing with the Phillies.
BobKlap
Brian Cashman was just told by Darek Braunecker that Lee is “moving in another direction.”
1 minute ago via TweetDeck
I’m amazed.
R U Kidding me ?????
I’m actually FASCINATED to see the real Brian Cashman get to work on this team now.
Bombshell.
# #Yankees offered 7 yrs, $150M. half a minute ago via TweetDeck
sherman
Absolutely unreal…
The Philly/Boston World Series is really going to suck…
We are f’d. Hope people recognize that and don’t think zack f’ing greinke is the answer cuz he aint….nor are any other tier 3 free agents out there.
We put our eggs in one basket, we got f’d.
My heart is broken.
I can’t wait to see how much money he left on the table.
Meh.
Enjoy your new old team there Lee. I guess.
Lost,
Greinke?
Wow
Can’t wait to hear why he chose Phiily.
Joelsherman1 Lee really might be leaving $50M on table. I don’t say wow often, but wow
Phillies Agree To Sign Cliff Lee
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [December 13 at 10:54pm CST]
The wait is over. Cliff Lee has agreed to sign with the Phillies, according to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan. Joel Sherman of the New York Post confirms the report (on Twitter.”
So all the bravado put forth by SJ44 that Lee was going to be a Yankees was just that, bravado.
Just like Gruden was going to be the next head coach of the Hurricanes.
Thanks for the continuous false bravado, SJ44. I put my faith in your “sources” and find myself devastated on 2 occasions in less than a month. Devastated. Losing Lee hurts.
Philly*
Yes! I know we’ll be disappointed now, but I guarantee this works out well in the end for the Yankees. I was really frightened they were gonna be stuck with that ludicrous 7 yr, $150 million deal.
joelsherman1
Hear Lee’s deal is in the 5 yr, $100M range with #Phillies less than a minute ago via TweetDeck
When did they bring deer hunting to Philly?????
Evan_P_Grant Just confirmed: Cliff Lee has told Rangers he’s taking a five-year deal from Phillies.
Should’ve moved early for Crawford and Greinke – my plan all along.
This is Lebron part deux.
The 2 places in the world I hate more than anything are going to have 2 beast teams: Boston and Philly.
This ruined my week.
Dude, really didn’t want to be a Yankee to leave $50m on the table. Unreal…Cashman better get to work.
ESPN leads with “Yankees out of running”, not Lee signs with Phillies. c– ks—kers.
Worst part of all this is yet to come…..now comes the following; 1) lee is a throwback, a guy who doesn’t care about the yankees money stories, 2) boston wins again with lee going to philly, 3) montero being traded before he even suits up.
Andy Pettitte, pretty please with a cherry on top?
Should’ve moved early for Crawford and Greinke – my plan all along.
—
Crawford is a huge waste of money.
If Lee turned down 7yrs/ 150 then he just had little intention of playing in NY.
If this is accurate so it goes. The Yankees will survive.
Cliff Lee is a loser
Buster_ESPN The Yankees’ offer to Cliff Lee was 6 years, $138 million, with a seventh-year player option for an additional $16 million; total $154 m.
good, spending that kind of money of Lee at this point would be like giving El Duque 7 years in 2002. Spending that kind of crazy money for a guy who’s won 18 games only twice is ludicrous. Let the Yankees start rebuilding and put Joba back in the rotation.
Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2011 AL East Third Place New York Yankees!
I don’t have much hope for this team next year.
Philly? That’s a riot! So that was the secret team, if it ends up being the case. Good bye AL.
Fine by me. Save the bucks. Let’s see where we go from here. I’m always more invigorated by suspense and waiting and watching. There’s a sense of adventure in the unknown.
GO YANKEES!
Ugh.
at least none of you have to go to work tomorrow, in downtown Boston, while your phone is ringing off the hook from gloating Sox fans.
ugh
Good Riddance. Getting him would just guarantee a WS loss anyhow.
Glad its over….Now we can move on and Cash can start the wheeling and dealing
Wanna bet this all comes down to his wife getting harrassed at Yankee Stadium? Haha.
Cliff Lee signs with Phillies. Check.
memo to Brian Cashman: don’t panic. And don’t force any short-sighed trades. If need be, wait for the trade deadline and then make a move
im not as disappointed as i thought i’d be
CB,
I can understand getting the Yankees involved to drive up the price.
But they didn’t even do that.
Did the Phillies really just, all of a sudden, decide they wanted Lee?
Otherwise, what was with this whole charade?
This is seriously the LeBron situation all over again! A player that is definitely coming to NY, ends up signing with a mystery team at the 11th hour. Wow…
Lee used the Yankees and the Rangers, just waited for the Phillies to come crawling. It sucks………He absolutely had no intention of pitching here, for whatever reason.
So much ado about nothing.
I guess in the end he really just wanted the Phillies. Weird stuff.
Not sure we want a guy who would leave 50 mil on the table anyway.
I hope Cliff Lee’s arm falls off and somebody beats him with it. Now the Phillies can lose the World Series with 4 Ace’s instead of 3. Get to work Cash man.
Bee dogs-
Team won 95 games with subpar seasons from many players and fair number of injuries. Missed WS by two games to a team that just lost their ace. Get a grip.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2011 AL East Third Place New York Yankees!
I don’t have much hope for this team next year.”
Awww. Guess you won’t be around much next season. Oh well. We’ll have to find a way to survive without your always positive nature.
I on the other hand believe the Yankees will find a way.
Jacob Ruppert:
STFU
In all honesty, I believe Cliff Lee will succeed in Philly. He’ll be a Cy Young candidate.
But that won’t stop me from rooting for Johan Santana part deux.
This guarantees Jose Reyes or Prince Fielder will be a Yankee.
So, let me get this straight, Mrs. Lee bags on the Yankees fans for their behavior and then allows her husband to sign with the freaking Phillies? Talk about hypocritical. LOL.
Web – wait till the beefy toad comes to the stadium next time.
Bright side….Texas gave up Smoak, Yankees still have Montero.
“Get a grip.”
You know that Beedogs cannot do this.
Is Ruben Amaro a magician or something?
Does he have these guys under some vodoo spell?
Two of the best pitchers in the game on deals way below their market value.
WTH is going on here?
I’m actually kinda happy that he didn’t sign with the Yankees so everyone realizes how bad of a General Manager Brian Cashman is for ruining next years team in hopes for landing one guy when he let other options that would have greatly helped the team slip away.
The Rotation is in SHAMBLES with only 2 real legitimate starters that we can bank on in CC and Phil Hughes.
Congratulations Brian Cashman!! You have single-handedly destroyed a 200 million dollar team.
We will beat the Phillies again with Lee in their uniform. Lee is 0-2 in World Series. Screw him!
Greinke was terrible last year…Now we’ll see what pettitte is made of.
Frankly, I hope his back gives out and he doesn’t throw a single pitch next year, he is a POS
I doubt Mets fans can be very happy either… though I’m not sure if they hate the Yankees or the Phillies more.
The Yankees’ offer to Cliff Lee was 6 years, $138 million, with a seventh-year player option for an additional $16 million; total $154 m.
Hitman – unfortunately, we signed jeter for more than likely 4 more years. So reyes = extremely doubtful
Montero is not going to be traded. There’s no one to trade him for. Greinke? Nope, he’s not coming………….and they aren’t chasing after Felix or Josh Johnson. Montero is part of our future and I don’t think Cash will panic because a 32 year old Lee had no desire to pitch here.
Where are all the comments from the media about how brilliant Darek Braunecker is now? He just lost the commission off an extra $50M. Scott Boras would have strangled Lee until he took the highest offer.
Awful lot of panic here for a team that missed the World Series by two games. Jump! jump!
This isn’t good news.
I just can’t see how the Yankees can make any significant move that doesn’t involve losing Montero.
But we’ll see. Gotta have faith.
Cashman needs to leave montero betances and banuelos be.no sense in w h o r i n g out future rings for a present you may just win without trashing your future.
BD,
I have no idea. We’ll just have to wait firs to see if this is officially confirmed and then hear Lee’s reasons.
Really one of the most unusual free agent deals in history if this happens.
This only makes sense if he told his agent his goal was to return to Philadelphia and it took all of this wrangling to get the phillies to come to table.
It’s just very perplexing what went on.
“Two of the best pitchers in the game on deals way below their market value.”
In a hitter’s park, no less. Pretty strange.
How dumb do you have to be to leave that sum of money on the table to go to a team that will have no loyalty to you if things go south?
This isn’t a few million dollars. I could understand if he went to Texas for slightly less
We are talking about up to $50 million dollars.
I’m sorry, but that is just dumb.
I hate the color red.
Carlo,
Eh. Move Jeter to 3b. Get Reyes, block the Sox from getting their shortstop.
Hey, everyone, at least we’re not Mets fans.
*blows brains out*
Why exactly do we want pettitte back now? I’m sorry, but andy does not make this team a contender in 2011. He eats up payroll and rotation space. Losing lee does not mean pettitte makes more sense, he makes less sense now. Time to turn the page in many ways.
I can hear it now.
Cliff Lee: There are more important things in life than money.
“We put our eggs in one basket, we got f’d.”
You put YOUR eggs in one basket. I doubt Cashman did.
I’m both relieved and happy. I’d rather take my chances with someone who might actually know how to beat teams in the AL East, other than the Yankees, and who has shown an ability to master teams in the world series,especialy those with weak offenses.
Good riddance Ichabod. I won’t miss ya!
couldn’t care less if the Yankees have a ‘rebuilding year’ in 2010. The key is, don’t make any panic moves. Don’t force any dumb trades.
games are not won on paper. If there are no viable trades, willing to go to war with what we have. And/or make additonal moves before the July trade deadline.
People go out and get stars.
We stockpile Romine, Noesi, Mitchell, Nova, Phelps, Nunez, and we get nothing for them in the end.
These guys arent eve prospects and wont give us any return on investment.
Other people go out and use their prospects to get better.
Anthony Ranaudo is already a top prospect after less than a year in the minors.
Manny Banuelos will never be a legitimate prospect.
“# Jacob Ruppert December 14th, 2010 at 12:02 am
Phillies Agree To Sign Cliff Lee
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [December 13 at 10:54pm CST]
The wait is over. Cliff Lee has agreed to sign with the Phillies, according to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan. Joel Sherman of the New York Post confirms the report (on Twitter.”
So all the bravado put forth by SJ44 that Lee was going to be a Yankees was just that, bravado.
Just like Gruden was going to be the next head coach of the Hurricanes.
Thanks for the continuous false bravado, SJ44. I put my faith in your “sources” and find myself devastated on 2 occasions in less than a month. Devastated. Losing Lee hurts.
”
ha remember reading him certain about Lee taking the highest offer
how much does his wife hate New York for this to happen? I mean if he was taking less money I was certain he would have stayed in Texas b/c of the ‘location’ and ‘lifestyle’ factor…this is really shocking and kind of slap in the face to the Yankees that they outbid everyone in years/ dollars and still lost
It’s obvious Cliff Lee has a gay lover on the Phillies. Don’t know who but he’s there. “smirk”
“ESPN leads with “Yankees out of running”, not Lee signs with Phillies. c– ks—kers”
they are too busy with their usual 24-7 Brett Favre suckfest… worst network on television
Prediction: Texas finishes 3rd in Al West in 2011.
Ugh, how long will we have to wait for Andy’s decision?
I agree with the patience theme. Be vigilant, Cash. See what we have before leaping.
Cashman failed. There is no way around that. It was his job to get him signed and he didn’t get it done.
“We are talking about up to $50 million dollars.”
———————
fans always criticize players for being “all about the money.”
if he really doesn’t care about maxing out the $, good.
but this whole charade won’t win him any points.
We’ll deal with the Phillies in the WS if we get there. Now the Yankees can move on with their business. I don’t care that Lee liked Philly, but he used both the Yankees and the Rangers – he delayed, delayed and delayed until the Phillies jumped in. He didn’t want to be here? Then it’s better off that Lee isn’t here.
This off-season pretty much sucks so far and the rotation is questionable. The Yanks will have to throw $$$$$ at Andy (they have that now, lol) and go with CC, Andy, AJ, Phil……….? Not that great, but servicable at least until a decent pitcher becomes available in mid-season.
TheStraw December 14th, 2010 at 12:11 am
Awful lot of panic here for a team that missed the World Series by two games. Jump! jump!
///i’m not panicking brother.i’m washing down some aji mackerel with a suntory.cliff who?
Let’s sign Kerry with the extra cash.
Unbelievable.
Cashman didn’t fail, he had the highest bid.
Maybe Cliff Lee saw Brian Cashman in an elf costume and decided that he couldnt in good conscience work for a guy like that.
I’m glad it’s over. Now Cashman can get on with putting the 2011 Yankees together. I am not disappointed…surprised that he is going to Philly…yes.
“I can hear it now.
Cliff Lee: There are more important things in life than money.”
—————
I can understand that and it is definitely my personal belief.
Especially when you get into crazy amounts like $150 million.
But to leave, 30, 40, 50 million dollars on the table?
I can’t even begin to understand.
timbritton Can we blast Cliff Lee for pulling the pitcher’s equivalent of LeBron James?
Oh come on, how can you force someone to sign? It’s Hal’s money – why not just blame Hal for not offering up a share of the franchise? Lee used the Yankees – he used the Rangers. Not once did we ever hear ANY indication that Lee had ANY interest in coming here….He liked Texas, but we didn’t hear anything about him being intrigued by NY.
LGY – there’s nothing dumb about a player going where he wants to go. Not everyone wants to play in the Bronx. Apparently greed isn’t the main motivator for Lee. Good. I think we were giving up a lot of time and dinero for a pretty unsure bet.
THANKS CLIFFY!
this isn’t Cashman’s fault.
get over it people.
Lee did not want to play for the Yankees. it happens.
end of story.
So it seems Lee made his decision while I was sucked into an episode of Angel. All week I’ve been checking twitter like a madwoman and I missed it. Thank god he finally made up his mind though, and picked a team in the NL. Now we can all move on.
yankeefeminista December 14th, 2010 at 12:14 am
Let’s sign Kerry with the extra cash.
///I’m with ya on that one.Kerry as EIG,Joba back to rotation,AJ retooled by rothschild,CC & Pettitte healthy,hughes with the training wheels off. montero gets feet wet and creeps slowly toward the middle of the order,jeter big year gives middle finger to fantasy boys. Onward & Upward i would say.
Just retire, Andy.
This whole offseason is an unmitigated disaster.
Cashman may have other “plans” but no team is going to help his plans. We dont know any Jed Hoyers of the world.
This ruined my week.
——————————-
it made my week.
Step 1: sign Soriano for the bullpen
West Coast Yankee Fan December 14th, 2010 at 12:14 am
Cashman failed. There is no way around that. It was his job to get him signed and he didn’t get it done.
_____
Sorry WCYF, but I see your post as the fail here. Lee obviously didn’t want to come to NY. We will overcome, and now we are not locked into the ridiculous salary and years.
The only fail will be if we overpay in prospects and act foolishly. Now that would be a case of Cash failing.
This isn’t anything like LeBron. Just happy he’s out of the AL at least.
trisha,
Like I said, it is not about the Yankees. If Lee went to the Phillies for slightly less because that is where he wants to be I understand that.
It is the sheer amount he left on the table from BOTH the Rangers and Yankees.
I don’t know why Lee wanted to play in Philly so much. But, I have to admire a guy that didn’t put money above all else.
Another SP will be acquired before April. bank on it. And it doesn’t have to be a superstar. Buerhle, Wandy, Floyd, or any of A’s pitchers would fit the bill fine.
“Let’s sign Kerry with the extra cash.”
There ya go.
Maybe there are pitchers who would rather pitch primarily to NL hitters. You know how that goes,
I also don’t get Andy not wanting to return unless Lee signs……..but perhaps he’s just not interested in putting in the effort at his age without a great team behind him.
BD, the Yankees are not going to panic. I think they are going to hope that Phil improves and that AJ improves. If they can’t get Andy to return, they’ll find some average veteran and probably go with Nova (granted, that rotation is not very good). They are going to try and tread water, I think.
sj44 has all you tools fooled. that know-it-all rarely gets anything right.
WCYF-
Maybe he likes playing for Charlie Manuel, who by all accounts is the greatest guy to play for.
“This whole offseason is an unmitigated disaster”
———————————————-
no. Committing 7 years/150 million for a 33 year old pitcher, would have been an unmigated disaster. Fortunately, Philadelphia saved the Yankees front-office from themselves
Lee, Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels should give the Phillies a historically good rotation and the Yankees and Rangers will have to look elsewhere for an ace.
———————————————————————————————————————-
Historically good? Perhaps he needs to go check out the 1971 Orioles rotation with FOUR 20 game winners with Palmer, Mcnally, Cuellar and Dobson.
Only an idiot would forego 50 mil
Vinny,
I’d love to get Rafael Soriano. Maybe he loves NYC as much as Cliff Lee loves his gay lover on the Phillies???
“I don’t know why Lee wanted to play in Philly so much. But, I have to admire a guy that didn’t put money above all else”
I also. And as someone who drives a 1997 car, I understand people who think there is more to life than $$$$$$$$. And it isn’t like he’s going to go broke playing for the Phils.
The Yankees just need to not make any rash moves.
That starts with not trading Montero in a knee jerk deal. Every trade proposal made to the yankees is going to be done assuming the yankees are going to act desperately and make rash trades.
They seem to be lukewarm at best about Greinke.
There’s no other pitcher worth Montero available.
They have CC. They’re going to have to hope AJ rebounds and Hughes takes the next step in his development.
Call Andy and try to get him to come back.
Most teams in baseball go into the season with significant risk. This season the yankees may need to as well and just play the games on the field and see what happens.
The more this dragged on, the less I wanted Lee…………If we have to struggle for awhile, so be it. We have the prospects (not including Montero) and now we have the $$$ to do something later on in the season. It’s just about treading water for the first part of the season.
And to be clear, I never think it is smart for an athlete to leave more than a marginal amount of money on the table.
These teams will turn on you in a second. It doesn’t matter how “loyal” you were.
Look at what happened to Mike Lowell?
I didn’t think the amount Lowell passed on was smart. I think the amount that Lee passed on is flat out stupid.
“Only an idiot would forego 50 mil”
Really? Only if money is that idiot’s god. It takes all kinds.
Too bad Cashman didn’t get Haren last year. I always liked him and hoped he would get him when they had the chance. Now we can thank Jack Z. for pulling out of the trade otherwise Montero wouldn’t be here and Lee would of left anyway and the Yanks would be screwed. I hope Cash doesn’t trade Montero or the B’s for some average starter.
Straw I’m sure that may have played a part. Manuel is a great guy.
Get the f out of here with this Joba back to the rotation nonsense. THE KID STINKS. End of story. STINKS.
Vinny,
I’d love to get Rafael Soriano. Maybe he loves NYC as much as Cliff Lee loves his gay lover on the Phillies???
————————-
lol
Again, I will remind you all that they won 95 games this year with CC, an inconsistent Phil, a below average AJ, a horrific Javy, a hurt Andy and other fill ins. What is all this talk of treading water. CC doesn’t believe it, neither should we.
Wtf. how did cashman fail???? Lee left more than 50MM on the table. how is that cashman’s fault??
I’m glad this resolved itself before I went to bed…..
Meh. I’m all for a player going where he wants to go, and it’s refreshing to know that it’s not all about the money for Lee.
My beef is that he, in essence, held the Yankees hostage for days when, I believe, he had no intention whatsoever of coming to NYC. I think that stinks. You can call it “business” if you wish, but I think it stinks.
And it just goes to show that not even the “insiders” and “experts” who post on this board actually know anything. Their opinions are guesses, just like the rest of us.
At least we can move on now. I’m disappointed but I suspect I’ll be over it by the time I wake up tomorrow morning. I’m just going to avoid reading any press or media
All this means in the Yankees will beat the Phillies in the world series twice out of the next five years.
Its not the end of the world, the rotation will be patched together like it was in ’03-’07 and everything will be right in the wold.
Boston’s lineup is vastly overblown and their rotation is in worse shape then the Yankee’s.
A decent target to look into would be Barry Zito. Resurgence in the beginning half of last year showed he’s still got something and with his huge contract SF might look to move him if something decent came along.
I’m sorry and you guys are going to hate this, but I blame this on the drunk mook morons who thought it would be fun to harass the Texas family section in the ALCS.
Prior to that, this guy was ready to wear pinstripes. Then our idiotic beer muscled lamebrain fans had to act like thugs.
This off season is officially a disaster.
We have an old roster. We have a 1b who is regressing into bad Giambi territory with the bat.
We have no starting pitching. Seriously. CC, AJ, Hughes is not going to get it done.
And now Cashman will trade Montero for the likes of a warm body who can hit 200 innings.
Texas getting Lee while we wouldn’t add Nunez to the deal is already haunting this team.
Can’t knock Lee. He took less money and just stuck his middle finger up to NY.
Hope those “fans” have a toaster fall in the tub with them one of these days. Cretins.
We could have signed Lee for just $$$$. No prospects other than draft picks which we would have wasted anyway. Like Cito Culver. Cito Culver will be bagging my groceries at Kroger a few years from now, while Anthony Ranaudo was packaged with Stolmy Pimentel for another superstar.
JWeav December 14th, 2010 at 12:19 am
sj44 has all you tools fooled. that know-it-all rarely gets anything right.
—————————————————————————
I agree, idk why anyone listens to him. Every word he says I can almost always expect the opposite. I dont know what he has said in the past to make everyone believe he’s got some inside knowledge and sources, but he has fooled everyone thus far and everyone still tends to believe him. Kudos to sj44 for the magic act.
Well there goes all of Cashman’s vacation possibilities for the Winter. He will be one busy busy man.
Hey, he didn’t want to be in NY, surprisingly. Maybe he knew he couldn’t handle the pressure. Fine, he knows his limitations and it cost him $50 million.
I was always uneasy about 7 years anyway……
Let’s be real folks ok? Cliff Lee’s son almost died of cancer. He just got $100 million dollars. I’m sure he’s thrilled.
Manny Banuelos will never be a legitimate prospect
//FAIL. He’s already a ‘legitimate prospect.’
Obviously Lee did not want to play here. Fine. Enjoy Philly. At least he’s out of the AL.
Now Cashman can get on with the business of putting the Yankees together for 2011.
I hope they don’t trade Montero
“Call Andy and try to get him to come back”
That’s where you start, I agree. Maybe stack the bullpen after that.
Plus many of the hitters had off years. A few tweaks and minor additions, and we’ll be back to 100 wins. Cliff would have all but guaranteed a title. But the team is better in the long run for his absence.
Holladay
Lee
Hamels
Oswalt
Blanton
That is an insane rotation…
SJ44 – what a fraud.
Hallelujah!
I’m glad. It was just way too many years. If the Yanks could have gotten the 5 year deal the Phillies got, that would have been fine.
I’m really not all that disappointed or surprised.
Dumping insane amounts of $ on guys that are 28 years old is one thing. Dumping that $ on a guy that is 32 is another, whether 4 years seems to make a difference or not.
Whoever wrote it above is right: this is a blessing in disguise and we now have an absolutely insane amount of $ to invest in the team at some point or another, be it this season or next.
And remember, our offense is exactly the same going into 2011.
Our rotation will start with CC, AJ, and Hughes and that is a great starting point. We can fill it out with a back of the rotation starter if Pettitte bows out for good and give Nova and other farm hands an opportunity.
Remember, in 2008 we took one step backwards to take two steps forward in 2009.
Cito Culver will be bagging my groceries at Kroger a few years from now,
///you’ll likely be bagging his, but you need to apply to a Whole Foods.
7 years was too long anyway. We already have A. J. too long !
Trade is coming !
If our starters pitch as they did in 2009, we’re fine. Seriously, we loved that rotation a year ago, why not now?
NOW DON’T TRADE MONTERO!!!
“It is the sheer amount he left on the table from BOTH the Rangers and Yankees.”
Which tells you that he really wanted to be back with the Phils, back in the NL, whatever.
It’s ovah kids. So no need to spin yourselves into butter or try to play 50 questions. You should have automatically held out some reserve in the event that the guy rejected the Yankees, since that was certainly a possibility.
I truly believe we just won in this sweepstakes. As I said before, I definitely wasn’t sold on 7 years for a 32-year-old pitcher who couldn’t master the AL East. Seriously. Plus his world series stint wasn’t much to write home about.
I’m relieved. Now let’s see where we go from here.
As always someone will go down in that rotation. Let’s hope its someone other than Blanton. Then they are back to a 3 ace rotation and the Giants took there butts out this past October. Nothing is a lock.
Besides the NL can have that daunting task. The Red Sox don’t look so tough anymore as the team to beat in the AL
NYYs will deal off Romine, a young arm and a middle infielder like Adams or an outfielder like Mesa or Brewer and bring Nolasco in. I’d prefer Sanchez, though.
My gosh folks why all the bellyaching? Did we really want the Yankees to spend $150mm on a player who clearly didn’t want to play for them?
All I can say is that I hope the Yankees keep Montero, piece together what they can on the pitching side, and play out the season. Personally I’d be far more excited with a little suspense and upside, then anything short of a WS title being a disappointment.
I really hope Pettitte comes back, because if he doesn’t, our rotation is horrible.
Whoever wrote it above is right: this is a blessing in disguise and we now have an absolutely insane amount of $ to invest in the team at some point or another, be it this season or next.
///You can’t always get what you want but if you try sometimes/you get what you need!
Now just hold the p i s s cash and keep the two Bs and montero where they belong.
“Too bad Cashman didn’t get Haren last year. I always liked him and hoped he would get him when they had the chance. Now we can thank Jack Z. for pulling out of the trade otherwise Montero wouldn’t be here and Lee would of left anyway and the Yanks would be screwed. I hope Cash doesn’t trade Montero or the B’s for some average starter”
————————————
intelligent post. Agree on all 3 points.
IMO, passing on the Dan Haren trade was the #1 mistake the Yankees made in 2010. And like you stated, it is important Cashman/NYY front office doesn’t make any short-sighted trades right now.
Wow. I’m stunned and disappointed.
Here’s something strange. For several years the Yanks have focused on drafting pitchers and catchers. Yet, going into 2011, they’re not sure they have a major league quality catcher, and they’re not sure they have more than two decent SPs.
Nothing wrong with Lee turning down the $$ to go to a place he enjoyed playing. Can’t begrudge him that.
Leaving $50 million on the table isn’t the brightest thing in the world but hey, to each his own.
And any of you who surmise that Boston will be facing Philly…its a long season and there are many solid teams across baseball.
Straw, we’ve been through this before and obviously disagree. Beyond CC, I don’t really like the rotation, esp. if Andy is not here. So, yes, IMO, the Yankees should not panic. They will need two veterans unless they go with a vet and a Nova. This is not that good a rotation so in this division, treading water until they can fortify would not be bad
Dylan December 14th, 2010 at 12:27 am
I really hope Pettitte comes back, because if he doesn’t, our rotation is horrible.
///Just offer Andy Lee money and he’ll come back
He’s the better postseason pitcher any way
What a night for sports news!
I would have liked to have Lee in the rotation, and I’m really surprised by this move.
I bet Lee will not be well looked on by the Players Union from this.
Favre ends his starting streak. Lee strikes a blow to the Rangers and the Yankees.
I give Lee credit for leaving money on the table like that.
This isn’t on Cashman. This is all about Lee and he played the game as he wanted to. It might be that he is wanting to pad his stats playing in the NL.
I wonder what Cash is doing right now? He’s going to make a nice trade, watch.
its funny how no one mentioned how he screwed texas over and how he’s buddies with hunter, kinsler and young.
How he likes hunting, or how he’s 4.5678 hours away from ark…
Also, if this is official, then you have to give Cliff Lee credit.
For months all we heard about Lee was that he was going to take every last dollar.
And in the end he pulled off one of the most surprising moves in the history of free agency leaving tens of millions on the table.
This is what fans are constantly wanting players to do. Lee appears to have done it.
From the Yankees perspective this is going to hurt them short term, but long term that contract was a great deal of risk.
In the end Lee just didn’t want to play in NY for whatever reason.
As much as I love Pettitte, and do hope he comes back, depending on what trades we now make, is he a “Favre” and staying 1 yr. too long? Let’s hope not.
“I’m sorry and you guys are going to hate this, but I blame this on the drunk mook morons who thought it would be fun to harass the Texas family section in the ALCS. ”
You are going to hate this equally, but if that’s what kept Lee out of NY, I am happy the drunk mook morons did what they did.
I didn’t want Lee. Thank you drunk mook morons. We don’t need any more fragile psyches in the Bronx anyway.
But even if he didn’t have a fragile psyche, I didn’t want him hanging around for 7 years, showing why he couldn’t beat the AL East.
I think we had an angel on our shoulder, even if it doesn’t seem that way to those who really were jonesing for the guy.
TheStraw December 14th, 2010 at 12:05 am
ESPN leads with “Yankees out of running”, not Lee signs with Phillies. c– ks—kers.
///They probably just stuck an emergency tape in there while someone hurried to repair the messed up Favre reel.
I read today that Mark Buehrle might be available…He has one year and 13 million left on his contract. I think he is every bit as good as Lee. That is who Yanks should target and I bet it wouldn’t take that much to get him. CC, Buehrle, Hughes, Andy and AJ is pretty decent and I’d take my chances with that staff
vinny-b,
Haren=woulda, coulda, shoulda
He’s not as good as Lee and Lee had a postseason track record, albeit small. That’s why Cashman offered Montero.
I’d guess that there are quite a few options out there on the trade market and remember, we don’t have to add an ace…we already have one of those.
The real question is whether Cashman will pursue one of those pitchers or go into 2011 with 3 slots locked down and let the in-house options (or lackthereof) duke it out for em.
G. Love December 14th, 2010 at 12:23 am
I’m sorry and you guys are going to hate this, but I blame this on the drunk mook morons who thought it would be fun to harass the Texas family section …
_____
Let’s make this clear once and for all. One late arriving loser threw a beer after the game. The Yankee fans weren’t harassing the family section. The family section was making a scene hollering and bushing it up. People were mostly ignoring them. And in fact, after the beer was thrown, the Yankee fans were the ones who tried to help out, find the guy and restore order. Therefore, if you weren’t there, please stop spreading rumors.
tart_wearing_pink December 14th, 2010 at 12:23 am
We could have signed Lee for just $$$$. No prospects other than draft picks which we would have wasted anyway. Like Cito Culver. Cito Culver will be bagging my groceries at Kroger a few years from now, while Anthony Ranaudo was packaged with Stolmy Pimentel for another superstar.
———————————————————————————————————————-
Don’t forget your food stamps this time.
Pettitte has a groin problem that’s slow to heal, his heart isn’t in it, he’s 39 years old and injury prone.
CB,
Because he was a coward.
eh7879,
Buerhle is not at all as good as Lee.
With that said, you raise a perfect example of the kind of pitcher that the Yankees can pursue and acquire without giving up their entire farm.
We DON’T need an Ace.
Not the end of the world. Back in the winter of 2008, I would have been very disappointed if CC Sabathia somehow got away. But Cliff Lee doesn’t bring out the same emotion. He’s a great pitcher, don’t get me wrong – no need to belittle him just because he isn’t a Yankee – but was he 100% necessary for the future of this franchise? No.
Time to look at the trade market for a pitcher they can acquire without giving up a major part of the future. Most any legit starter will cost you something you would probably rather not give up, but I don’t think we need to worry about Montero or Banuelos being a chip for such a guy.
You could actually likely get Buehrle and Nolasco without giving up Montero or Betances
Betsy-
The point I’m trying to make is that over half the team, pitchers, a rod, Tex, Jeter, Granderson, had subpar or injury riddled years. If only half of those guys turn it around it should equal 4-5 more wins. Acquisitions will be made to shore up the rotation and other weaknesses, either now or at the deadline. That rotation(with a healthy Andy) was good enough to win in 2009. And i’m not buying that Boston or Philly is light years ahead of us.
Need to get someone younger than Lee ! With STUFF ! And control !
Yes, we’ll have to give plenty.
And don’t trade Banuelos !
Mad Prince -
I agree – with Buehrle you pretty much can pencil in what you are going to get. And it’s mostly good.
cs in la,
I said the same thing. Why all the panic? If Pettitte comes back, we have a better rotation than the one that won a World Series just 1 year ago.
CC, Andy, Hughes, AJ, Nova is better than 2009 .
Forget Buehrle. He’s talking retirement after 2011 season.
I’m not lobbying for Buerhle…he’s just an example of the kind of starter that we can pursue.
Many of you may think I’m nuts, but I’d LOVE to see the Yankees make Brandon Webb an offer.
He may be well-removed from making any immediate impact but that is a high risk/high reward opportunity that could pay HUGE dividends in a year or two.
Both Lee and Buehrle’s career ERA is 3.85. Buehrle has 148 wins and Lee 102. Buehrle has won a World Series and Lee has not. Who cares what his long term plans are we need a starter for next season.
I like Webb a lot…I don’t think it would be a high risk signing cause they wouldn’t have to pay him that much. I’d rather have him slotted in as a 5th starter then Nova or Mitre. BTW right now are the Yanks having the highest team salary still?
So how long until Cashman makes his first significant player move? Any guesses? We’ll see just what kind of net he has cast. My guess is a tuna net with a large hole in it.
Cashman now has a tough job going forward. He will have to pickup the crumbs in the FA market and explore trade options now where other teams will be trying to bend him over.
Webb supposedly hasn’t shown much in his workouts. You are talking a heavy incentive offer with no guarantees for anything if you bring him in; some other team may be willing to offer him more of a guarantee than that. Shoulder injuries are often a doomsday scenario for pitchers.
Even if Buehrle is a one-year rental, he may be worth it. If the Yankees can get him for a year without having to give up a significant package, they may just do it. That gives Banuelos & Betances an extra year to develop – one of them could be ready for 2012.
And if he decides not to retire, you’ll have a choice of either trying to resign him or letting him go while offering arbitration (he will definitely be a Type A).
What’s crazy is the Yanks are paying CC about what Phillies are paying Halladay and Lee combined! I’m sure players association will not be happy with Lee leaving that much money on the table
Trisha, seriously, go suffocate yourself. Your personal attacks are getting really tiresome.
Sorry if this is a repeat but I have not read all the posts. As to Cliff Lee, to paraphrase the great WC Fields: “Better Philadelphia than hear.”