[討論] Cliff Lee couldn't get years from Texas
Cliff Lee couldn't get years from Texas
Texas Rangers managing general partner Chuck Greenberg said Tuesday morning
that had his club been willing to accept Cliff Lee's terms, he would be
pitching for Texas, but the Rangers weren't comfortable guaranteeing a
seventh year.
"There was a lot of back and forth and a point at which they said, 'If you
would do 'X', we'll agree to terms,'" Greenberg said. "But those terms went
beyond the parameters we were comfortable with, specifically in terms of
years. It was beyond the level we could live with, so we would not accept
those terms. But it wasn't a matter of Cliff not being willing to stay here."
General manager Jon Daniels said there was constant contact with Lee's agent,
Darek Braunecker, throughout Monday as he tried to make a final decision.
Late Monday, Lee agreed to a contract with the Philadelphia Phillies.
"Reports of where we were, actually, were pretty accurate," Daniels said.
"It's hard to say what the right number is. At what point is the risk where
you're not willing to do it? We went as far as we could on the terms."
According to a source, the Rangers' highest offer was six years at $138
million, with some of that money deferred and a vesting option for a seventh
year at $23 million.
The Yankees presented two offers to Lee -- one for six years at $23 million a
year and one for seven years at a little over $21 million a year, sources
told ESPNNewYork.com.
Lee ultimately agreed to a five-year, guaranteed $120 million contract with
the Phillies, sources told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick. The deal includes a
$27.5 million option in the sixth year based on performance.
Greenberg said that during the first trip to Little Rock, Ark., just as the
free-agent period started, Lee mentioned how much fun he had in Texas and how
similar it was to his experience with the Phillies.
"He said that it [Texas and Philadelphia] was the two best times he had in
baseball in terms of relationship with fans and camaraderie with players,"
Greenberg said. "In the back of our minds, thinking that experience was
something that was going to be meaningful to him, we realized the Phillies
had made a positive impression on him."
Still, the Rangers felt they had a good chance to land Lee. Club president
Nolan Ryan took it as a good sign that Lee had taken the entire weekend to
think about the options in front of him. Those included some increased offers
from the Rangers, which a contingent presented Lee on Thursday night in a
quick trip to Little Rock, the club's third such journey in the past six
weeks.
"I would say I was surprised Philadelphia came into the picture because up to
that point last night, I was under the impression it was between us and the
Yankees," Ryan said. "When we didn't hear anything over the weekend, I felt
like he was giving a lot of considering in coming to us."
The Rangers, though, weren't willing to go seven years guaranteed for Lee,
who would have been 39 by the time that contract expired. Greenberg said this
was not a case of a free-agent pitcher avoiding the Rangers because of
hitter-friendly Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.
"In this instance, it was simply a matter of us saying yes," Greenberg said.
"But it would have been us saying yes on terms we weren't comfortable with.
This wasn't about Cliff not coming to Texas. He was willing to remain a
Ranger, but it was on terms we felt went beyond the aggressive parameters we
were operating under. Had we been willing to go beyond the parameters we were
willing to go, he'd be here. We needed to act aggressively, but responsibly
and we did so."
Texas will be compensated with two draft choices next summer since Lee is
signing with another team after being offered salary arbitration.
"I'm just excited that the Rangers gave everything they had to try and make
it happen," Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton said. "I think one of the
factors in his decision was knowing the staff that he would be going to and
joining in, and how good and dominant they possibly could be. ... We hate to
lose him, but I think we'll be all right."
Now Daniels and his staff turn their attention to the rest of the offseason.
He said besides the time spent working on the Lee deal, it didn't impact the
club's strategy.
"There's no player that's gone off the board that we would have acquired at
the cost necessary to sign him or trade for him," Daniels said. "We didn't
miss out on anybody. There were players we liked, but not at the dollars or
trade cost they were at."
Daniels still wants to improve his team and said he'll look at all avenues to
do that, even on offense. He said he's expecting to speak with Vladimir
Guerrero's agent this week as talks continue about bringing the veteran
slugger back as the designated hitter in 2011. And he'll check on various
trade options. Those likely include Kansas City's Zack Greinke and Tampa
Bay's Matt Garza. He knows the asking prices won't be low.
"Teams that have pitching to trade at any point, there's going to be a high
price," Daniels said. "That's the nature of the market. We lined up some
different things we're going to look into. The price we were willing to pay
beforehand is similar to what we'd pay now. We wanted Cliff back, but we're
not going to rebound and overpay for something."
Still, Daniels didn't hide his disappointment that Lee isn't fronting the
rotation next season when asked if part of him was relieved all those dollars
weren't tied up in one player for that long.
"Nobody knows how any player is going to perform two, three, four, five years
from now," Daniels said. "It's the human element. You try to forecast as best
you can, but you just don't know. We wanted to take that risk because we felt
that it was worth the gamble to take. But it is a gamble. We're disappointed
today because we don't have the player. Might we look back at some point
years from now? We might. But I don't want to pretend we're happy or
relieved. That's not the case. We wanted to sign the player."
資料來源:ESPN(MLB板)
http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/mlb/news/story?id=5919388
雖然沒能如願簽下Lee，但是這些動作給隊上主將們一個很重要的訊息:球團高層很努力打
造一個具有奪冠實力的球隊~~
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2010 Texas Rangers Postseason Franchise Roster
(SP)Cliff Lee (C)Benjie Molina (1B)Mitch Moreland (2B)Ian Kinsler
(SS)Elvis Andrus (3B)Michael Young (LF)David Murphy (CF)Josh Hamilton
(RF)Nelson Cruz (DH)Vladimir Guerrero (SP)C.J. Wilson (SP)Colby Lewis
(CL)Neftali Feliz (RP)Darren O'Day (RP)Darren Oliver (SP)Derek Holland
(RP)Alexi Ogando (RP)Michael Kirkman (C)Matt Treanor (OF)Julio Borbon
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