Yankees on Brink of Acquiring Cliff Lee

Written for BaseballDigest.com

With all of the hoopla (pun very much intended) over LeBron James last night, I was shocked to see he was not the subject of conversation on Twitter this morning. No sooner had my computer booted up then my brain got a jolt as well. The NY Post’s Joel Sherman reported that the Yankees are in deep conversations with the Seattle Mariners for Cliff Lee.

Say what?

By 10 a.m. Sherman had tweeted and written that the teams were on the brink of getting the deal done. Jesus Montero, the Yankees number one prospect, would be the centerpiece of the trade. Montero has struggled at the plate for much of his first full season at Triple-A, but is still highly regarded around baseball. This would also indicate that the Yankees front office is higher on catching prospect Austin Romine for the future.

The Mariners are also said to be intereted in 2nd base prospect, and UVA product, David Adams. Sherman says a third prospect will also be included in the deal.

With Lee’s free agency on the horizon, you have to wonder if the Yankees will demand a window to negotiate a long term deal with the prized left-hander. Though the Yankees would be giving up prospects, acquiring Lee would preclude losing draft picks if Lee went elsewhere and the Yankees then signed him as a free agent.

Some feel this deal would be overkill since the Yankees roll out CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte, Phil Hughes, and Javier Vazquez on a regular basis. Though three of the pitchers are All-Stars, Hughes has an innings limit and Burnett and Vazquez have struggled at times. It’s possible once he nears the innings limit, Hughes could bolster the bullpen for the remainder of the season as he did last year.

While there are mixed feelings about giving up a top prospect, Cliff Lee is the type of player you give him up for.

Update: 11:20 am ESPN's Buster Olney tweeted that since Lee is set to face them tonight, the Yankees told the Mariners they have to have answer soon.

Joel Sherman has now reported that the Yankees will not ask for a negotiating window to get a long term deal done with Lee.

Update: 3:45 pm Sherman says the deal is off - he just tweeted:
"To repeat the Yankees aren't getting Cliff Lee. Mariners concerned about David Adams ankle plus apparently another team has jumped in hard."

Update: 4:20 pm According to several people involved with the Yankees, the deal is definitely dead (for now) with Seattle.

It look the Texas Rangers are the team that has re-entered the fray. Rangers' Hall of Fame beat writer T.R. Sullivan says "...the Rangers won't do (Justin) Smoak". Possibilities are Jared Saltalamacchia, Engel Beltre, Derek Holland, Omar Beltre and Blake Beavan.

Stay tuned for updates.