Cliff Lee

As the New York Yankees and Texas Ranger battle for position in the Cliff Lee sweepstakes, reports have leaked of offers from both teams getting up to seven years for the 32-year-old Arkansas native.

A seven-year deal would last Cliff Lee through age 39. Most starters have already long been deteriorating physically by this time.

While the baseball world watches and waits for Cliff Lee to make his final decision on where to pitch next season, the competition for his services has never been hotter.

Lee's decision seems to be between the New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers, whom Lee took to their first World Series in franchise history last season.

The Yankees' initial offer to Lee was for six years between $140-150 million, and was then increased to seven years and $161 million.

All the New York Yankee brass and fans can do is wait for ace Cliff Lee to make his decision.

The Yankees need Lee, and anyone who doesn’t think so is living in denial.

The recent acquisition of two lefties, Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez, by the Yankees rival in Boston, does make the Red Sox slightly better.

Here is why:

The New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers went through an intense battle in the playoffs this year. But now both sides are at it again, this time over who will win the services of free agent Cliff Lee.

Reportedly, Lee has been offered $140 million over seven years by the Yankees.

Despite a flurry of movement at baseball's winter meetings, free agent pitcher Cliff Lee remains unsigned.

But that doesn't mean he hasn't been fielding offers.

According to reports, both the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers are bidding aggressively for the ace and an agreement may soon be reached. However, with some of the contracts that are being handed out (Jayson Werth - seven years/$126 million, Carl Crawford - $142 million), the price for the 31-year-old left-hander has become astronomical.

MLB Rumors: The Boston Red Sox have stolen all the headlines early on in the MLB offseason.

They pried Adrian Gonzalez away from the San Diego Padres and signed Carl Crawford to one of the richest contracts in baseball history.

But now all the attention is on Cliff Lee.

The most coveted prize of this year's free agent market has been linked to only a few teams, most notably the Texas Rangers—who he helped get to the World Series last season—and the New York Yankees.

The Yankees know full well that offering Cliff Lee a seven-year guaranteed contract is a bad idea. At least, I think they do.

Lee will turn 33 during the 2011 season. Signing him to a deal that would conceivably pay him over $20 million the year he turns 40 doesn't exactly reek of fiscal responsibility.

Thank Jebus for Proctor and Gamble, because Bounty paper towels did a great job cleaning my vomit off the floor after I read about the Carl Crawford signing.

The dude is now the highest paid outfielder in history and he's not once hit 20 home runs or knocked in 100 RBI's.

Meanwhile in Colorado, Carlos Gonzalez has an erection—but I digress.

Carl Crawford has agreed to a seven-year, $142 million deal with the Boston Red Sox. But what does that mean for Boston's AL East rival, the New York Yankees?

Well if nothing else, we now know the Red Sox have big league money and are willing to spend it.

Just last weekend, Boston traded for San Diego's Adrian Gonzalez. The first baseman is expected to get a deal worth an estimated $154 million over seven-years.

The MLB winter meetings have a lot of fans glued to their technology of choice. Twitter, ESPN, XM Radio, the Internet in general are all being utilized to absorb every nugget of info on the dealings going on in Orlando. 

So, lying in bed last night, with my headphones on pumping MLB Network Radio into my ears and my smart phone in my hand to comb tweets, I was made aware of the Red Sox stunning signing of Carl Crawford almost as soon as it happened.