Free agent Cliff Lee allegedly wants, quite literally, a CC Sabathia-like contract of seven years.
You don't give a 32-year-old pitcher a seven-year contract. You just don't.
It would cripple the Texas Rangers and just about every other team rumored in the Lee sweepstakes and I can't imagine them actually giving him those years.
My assumption is that the "seven year" thing is a message to the New York Yankees: "If you want me, come and get me." I think the Yanks could walk in and end Lee's time as a free agent in pretty short order.
Will they? They can, but I also think the Yanks have limits not necessarily in terms of the money, but the principle of the thing. The Yankees could've outbid Tom Hicks on Alex Rodriguez, but they didn't. Not that he wasn't worth it.
But the Yanks allowed the lil' Rangers they day in the sun. Several years later, A-Rod's hitting homers for the Yanks while the Rangers are picking up the tab.
I really can't imagine the Yanks offering the seven years and all of this settling on four or five. If it comes down to the Rangers, I hope they let this all play out and not get suckered into overpaying.
With that said, the Rangers are also one of a number of teams in on Jorge De La Rosa. Again, not an awful idea. Then again, be wary. De La Rosa's rounding into the second-best starter in the free agent market.
The last thing I want the Rangers doing is missing out on Lee and then overspending on De La Rosa to make sure all was for naught.
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