Cliff Lee got called Sunday?

[ws2009]

From ESPN MLB rumors:

 

"We talked earlier this week of how several teams, most notably the Yankees reached out to

Darek Braunecker on Sunday, the first day that clubs could officially

contact free agents of other teams. The other teams believed to be

interested in Lee include the Rangers, Nationals, Phillies, Brewers,

Cubs and Angels."

 

Can't imagine we have the money or quality of team he is demanding

[Invader3K]

I just don't see how he doesn't end up staying a Ranger or in Yankee pinstripes. The Brewers can't match the money the Yankees will be willing to offer, or the proximity to home that the Rangers have.

[Principessa21]

I don't think proximity to his AR home matters either. He will go to whoever gives him the most money.

[JohnBriggs12]

I just don't get why the Brewers would waste their time.

 

If they've got enough to even bid on Lee, why not go for a realistic target like Kuroda who for a shorter deal they actually might have the money to land?

 

A Gallardo, Kuroda, Wolf, (Correia or Correia equivalent), Narveson rotation with Rogers in the wings might be enough to seriously contend assuming in that scenario they hold on to Fielder.

[Invader3K]

I agree, Briggs. Kuroda has been so good the last couple years, though you have to worry about his age (36 in February). Still, if he would sign a deal similar to Wolf's, it would probably be a safe gamble.

[RockCoCougars]

If the Brewers wanted to make a huge splash and toss ridiculous money at a guy, it should have been for C.C.. That ship has sailed, and I have no interest in giving Lee a 9 figure deal that has big potential to be a franchise crippler. I'd rather give the money to Prince (most of it, that is....). People forget that less than 3 years ago, Lee wasn't even a lock to make the Indians out of spring training. I'm not saying that he's going to regress back to that point, but I'm not gambling in excess of $20 million per that he won't. This doesn't even mention the fact that he's going to be 33 years old next year.

[GAME05]

i read "believe to be of interest" as a writer's own assumption that the Brewers need starting pitching and have the money available, but not based on any real conversation with Melvin about it. just speculation, which is fine.

 

Melvin has always believed in nothing more than three-year contracts with pitchers, and i think Suppan would have cemented that opinion. since the Yankees' new strategy seems to be offering up super-long contracts to free agents, it's hard to figure Melvin would want to match that and be paying a 40-year-old $20M per season.

 

the Rangers have home-field advantage and the Yankees can print their own money, so it's hard to figure what the Brewers could possibly offer that would best any offer that Lee could get from one of them.

[MNBrew]

As good as CC was/is, I think Lee is better right now and I'd love to see Doug Melvin & the Brewers do anything I could to offer him the best deal.

 

No one thinks it'll happen, including me, but they have the room to do it whether they trade Prince or not. And if you're gonna spend serious FA money, I'd rather aim for the highest and forget the JDLR's of the world.

 

Remember that with good drafting & some right moves & good timing, even though they're saddled with Zito's killer contract plus Rowand & Guillen, the Giants won the WS w/ a payroll under $100M.

[dadofandrew]

I think Doug will bring in a serious younger SP like Nolasco or Garza in trade. I could see them signing a Correia type to fill things out. I got an e-mail the other day saying they can't expect to get a SP for Fielder, as so few teams trade SP, and they're not going to do it for a single year of Prince. That made sense, as Yo is untouchable. They might well take a replacement 1B and two solid prospects for him, and not a major league ready SP. Teams like FLA or TB, looking to shed salary, will want prospects and pre-arby guys, not a soon to be FA.

[brewmann04]

The Brewers sound like the Dark horse here maybe it can happen twice it worked for RR.

[AJAY]

We all know Cliff Lee is not coming here, but it doesn't hurt to call his agent and just explore things. If anything, you get your team's name in the news and also maybe build a better relationship with his agent. Someday, that agent may represent another player who you have interest in and it would be nice to have some familiarity between the agent and the team.

 

 

No harm.

[GAME05]

more playing devil's advocate, but should we be automatically assuming that it's unthinkable Lee won't sign here? maybe there's been a change in philosophy in the organization. we've seen what happens when DM has aimed for the kinda-expensive mid-level pitchers.

[Principessa21]

It's not just about spending money since Lee is also looking for at least a 5 year deal. I just don't think that would be smart for the Brewers.

[logan82]

It's not just about spending money since Lee is also looking for at least a 5 year deal. I just don't think that would be smart for the Brewers.

That is still kind of about money. Not to many teams can pay a player a big chunk of money to have him around for his decline years without hurting their team.

[DHonks]

The Brewers could offer Lee less than they offered Sabathia, and he might take it. It depends on how badly they want to add pitching

[PrinceFielderx1]

The Brewers could offer Lee less than they offered Sabathia, and he might take it. It depends on how badly they want to add pitching

The Brewers offered Sabathia a little more than 5 years 100 million, and they were seriously considering offering a 6th year until they saw the Yankees offer and backed out.

 

 

"Finally confirming his offer to be for five years and "slightly over"

$100 million, Melvin said his delegation had been debating whether to

add a sixth year to that bid. Before hearing of the Yankees' deal,

Melvin said adding another year was under serious consideration."

 

link

[Invader3K]

Sounds like Kuroda is close to re-signing with the Dodgers. Supposedly it's a 1 year, $12 million deal. I'm shocked it's only one year, but obviously he wants to stay in LA. One more name to scratch off the list, it seems.

[KCBrewerfan34]

My expectations are Melvin won't be able to improve the pitching staff again and he'll be able to say we tried.... blah blah blah

[dlk9s]

Unless he makes a big trade, I wouldn't be surprised at all if Melvin isn't able to do much to improve the staff. The FA market is terrible this year.