Mike Piellucci
FOXSportsSouthwest.com
Ian Kinsler has just one request of Cliff Lee when the free agent ace gets his offer from the Rangers.
"Just sign it," said the two-time All-Star second baseman in a text to Lee.
The message was one in a series that the two sent back and forth when Rangers CEO Chuck Greenberg, president Nolan Ryan, and general manager Jon Daniels visited Lee at his Arkansas home on Nov. 15.
As Kinsler told KESN-FM, he sent a friendly text to Lee to see how his offseason was going in Arkansas when Lee informed him that the Rangers were in town to hold contract talks.
That's when the campaigning began.
"I was like, 'Well, just sign whatever they give you,'" Kinsler joked.
"He said, 'Let's see what happens. We have to wait it out.'"
To which Kinsler replied: "'Remember, I like being your teammate.' And he said, 'I do, too, but we have to wait it out.' I said, 'Just sign it.'"
Kinsler's recruitment campaign apparently hasn't caught on among his teammates, though. When asked if other Rangers players had made similar efforts, he said "not too much."
Still, the Rangers front office likes the position it's in and is optimistic about the team's chances of retaining Lee.
"We got the answers we wanted, and we reconfirmed our interest in bringing him back," Ryan said after the Nov. 15 gathering. "We left feeling good about the meeting, and I do think Cliff is very interested in playing here again."
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