Major League Baseball

Will Lee go for money or comfort?

Published Nov. 3, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

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Bob Klapisch

So where’s he going?

That was the question on everyone’s mind as they gathered at Rangers pitcher Cliff Lee’s locker Monday night in Texas. Sure, there were relevant questions to raise about that suicidal cutter he threw to Edgar Renteria in the seventh inning of Game 5 of the World Series — there was no conversational detour around that season-ending mistake.

But it wasn’t long before Lee was gazing into the future. With free agency just days away, observers are paying close attention to what the left-hander is saying about 2011, the way Kremlinologists used to listen for subtle phrasing in news broadcasts to determine what was happening in Cold War Russia.

OK, so Lee’s next contract falls short of geopolitics, but the entire industry is bound by its curiosity about what’s next. The New York Yankees and Texas Rangers in particular want to know what moves Lee most deeply: money or kinship.

If it’s cold, hard cash, the Yankees have already won the war. They’ll be No. 1 on a list without any No. 2. Members of the front office held their pre-offseason strategy session in Tampa this week, emerging with a single priority: Lee, at any cost.

What the Yankees don’t know, however, is what Lee thinks he’s worth, especially if CC Sabathia’s $23 million per will be merely the starting point. Lee could conceivably ask for $25 million-$28 million a year — and get it. But that’s not to say he’d necessarily accept.

That’s because Lee found a small slice of heaven with the Rangers. He likes the team, its ownership, his relationship with team president Nolan Ryan and a fan base that all but worships him. Not even two World Series losses took the shine off Lee’s legacy in Texas; the near-masterpiece he threw in Game 5 strengthened the argument in Arlington that Lee must return if the Rangers are to remain competitive.

In that sense, Texas and New York are in agreement: Both sides have made Lee their No. 1 priority. Lee is keenly aware he’s already being pulled from both sides, and he chose his words carefully Monday night.

“I’d love to be back, this is the most fun I’ve had playing this game,” Lee said. “But it’s my first time being a free agent and I’m going to see what it’s all about. So many things can happen, you know.”

The Rangers take that praise seriously; they think they have a shot when they hear Lee says he enjoyed his half-season in the Lone Star State. In fact, Texas has two factors working in its favor.

The first is the five-day window after the Series during which the Rangers can negotiate exclusively with any in-house free agent. It’s not a lot of time in Lee’s case, but the Rangers were already busy as early as Monday, when owner Chuck Greenberg interrupted the World Series to blast the conduct of Yankees fans in the ALCS.

During an interview with a local radio station, Greenberg said, “I think particularly in Game 3 of the (ALCS) they just blew away anything I've seen in any venue during the postseason. I thought Yankee fans, frankly, were awful. They were either violent or apathetic, neither of which is good. So I thought Yankee fans were by far the worst of any I've seen in the postseason. I thought they were an embarrassment."

Greenberg quickly retracted those remarks, no doubt helped along by a stern rebuke from the commissioner. Yanks owner Hal Steinbrenner accepted Greenberg’s apology but nevertheless went on 1050-AM radio in New York to call the remarks, “absolutely inappropriate, ridiculous.”

At the end of the news cycle, however, Greenberg might have ultimately delivered a not-so-subtle message to Lee’s wife, Kristen, who already has gone on record about the behavior in Yankee Stadium during the ALCS.

Whether or not he intended his remarks for Kristen Lee’s benefit, the effect was to reinforce the notion that New York isn’t safe — neither for watching a game nor putting down roots.

That’s the second bullet in the Rangers’ chamber, the home-sweet-home effect that Lee, an Arkansas native, has come to enjoy. If it’s a matter of comparing familiarity and cultural comfort levels, the Yankees could be in trouble.

There’s one more metric that could make the Yankees uneasy. And that is, which team will Lee consider more likely to take him to the World Series? A year ago he was attracted to the Yankees’ huge upside, as they rolled through the postseason with relative ease. Lee wanted to sign up then and there and reunite with his buddy and former Indians teammate Sabathia.

But that calculus might have changed now that the Rangers ousted those very Yankees from the ALCS. Rangers officials intend to hammer home the theory that they, not the Bombers, have the superior trend line. They’re younger and more athletic with room to grow.

The Yankees, by contrast, are saddled with the aging Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, both of whom figure to decline in the field as they get closer to 40. That’s a critical element to the Rangers’ recruiting pitch, arguing that the Yankees’ empire has seen its best days.

Is it true, though?

Better question: True or not, does Lee believe it?

We’ll get our answer in the coming weeks, maybe months. Lee, no dummy, isn’t going to rush. The longer he waits, the higher the bidding will go. Eventually, Lee will have to choose between money and love, which in this case sounds like a win-win for 2011 and beyond.

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