The Twins, Mets, Rangers, Phillies, Tigers, and Rays have all been rumored to be interested in trading for Mariners’ pitcher Cliff Lee in recent weeks. Lee has also gained interest from the Yankees—even though they have a rotation that goes five deep.
Still, the Yankees want Lee.
They really do, but right now, there isn’t a huge need for him to join the Yankees' rotation.
Also, General Manager Brian Cashman doesn’t like to double—dip by trading away prospects for a player who is just going to become a free agent at the end of the year. The problem is that getting him now not only increases their chances of repeating as World Champions, but would hurt a few of their rivals' chances as well.
What are the Yankees going to do?
According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports , the Yankees are monitoring the trade market for Lee and would get involved if the asking price was to their liking. Rosenthal’s sources seem to think they’d probably also have to find a suitor for Javier Vazquez to open a rotation spot for Lee.
That could certainly be possible. Despite Vazquez’s poor start, he has come on strong as of late. Even though he comes with a decent price tag (he’s earning $11.5 million this season) that fact that he becomes a free agent after this season will make some teams more willing to take on that burden.
Buster Olney of ESPN has also reported that the Yankees are right now on the outside looking in on trade talks, but that could change. He said the Bronx Bombers are confident that they could put together a package centered around their young catchers .
That’s probably true.
If the Yankees don’t get Lee this season, it will simply be because they don’t want him right now—not that they wouldn’t be able to get him.
Seattle is said to be interested in a young catcher, which the Yankees have plenty of (Jesus Montero , Austin Romine , JR Murphy , Gary Sanchez and you could even include Francisco Cervelli ).
They could also include shortstop Eduardo Nunez, whom the Mariners have said to have scouted in the past. If they threw in a talented pitcher like Zach McAllister or Jose Ramirez , the Yankees probably wouldn’t have much problem getting Lee at all.
We’ll have to see what happens in the next couple of weeks. It is really doubtful that Lee will come to the Bronx, but it is certainly possible.
Any thing is possible, really.
The Yankees might like the final asking price on Lee. They could get a phone call with a great offer for Vazquez. In the end, there will probably be another more motivated team.
The Yankees will have their chance to get Lee this winter...if they want.
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