When Cliff Lee rejected the Yankees’ free agent contract offer in the winter of 2010, he was arguably the biggest high-profile free agent ever at that time to diss the Yankees. (Of course, this was three years before Robinson Cano packed his bags for Seattle!) If you may remember way back then, a whole 3 1/2 years ago, I wrote over and over that I was extremely skeptical he would be a Yankee. Once Kristen Lee, Cliff’s wife, let it be known that she was unhappy about Yankee fans cursing, throwing beer at her and spitting on her in the 2010 ALCS, I figured there was pretty much no way he would sign with the Yankees. Remember, she said this about Yankeeland:
“The fans did not do good things in my heart,” Kristen says.
“When people are staring at you, and saying horrible things, it’s hard not to take it personal.”
Then Lee even took less money to go back to Philadelphia, and also let it be known that 1) the Yankees were his last choice, after the Phillies and Rangers, 2) didn’t even call Brian Cashman himself (he had his agent do it), while he personally called Jon Daniels to say no, and 3) said that the Phillies gave him the best chance to win,. All of these things made it abundantly clear exactly how he felt about the Bronx Bombers.
While I was shocked he went back to Philly, instead of staying in Texas, I wasn’t the least bit surprised that he turned down the Yankees. And I was appalled at the spin from Yankeeland at the time trying to make Lee’s rejection a good thing. There were these anonymous, ridiculous quotes from Yankeeland:
“Obviously he wasn’t all about the money, which is refreshing,” said one of the sources. “He left a lot of it on the table.”
“I think we should celebrate the fact that a guy took less money to go to a place he loves,” the other said. “I honestly don’t think he or his wife were afraid of New York, just that they enjoyed their experience in Philadelphia to such an extent that they would rather go there for a lot less money.”
Yeah, right. As I wrote back then, there must be a pony in there somewhere!
Anyhow, let’s fast-forward to 2014. As I was drinking my morning coffee just now, I saw that the New York Daily News’ Mark Feinsand is the latest Yankee writer to propose that the Bombers trade for Cliff Lee. Feinsand writes this, in an article entitled “Brian Cashman must do what it takes to bring Cliff Lee to the Yankees”:
If Lee proves to be healthy, wouldn’t he be the ideal candidate for the Yankees? Yes, he’s owed a ton of money over the next couple of years, but he likely won’t require the same type of package Samardzija commanded, making it far more realistic for the Yankees to go after Lee than, say, David Price.
Quite frankly, given the Yankees’ shoddy lineup, coupled with the loss of CC Sabathia, perhaps they should be sellers, and not buyers, this season. But that is not likely in Yankeeland! Neither is Cliff Lee actually becoming a Yankee.
What do you think? Tell us about it!
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
