Tuesday,
December 14, 2010
Big Domino Falls
Note – I have
moved the SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota
Twins podcast to 9:00 central time on Tuesday nights. It is an hour
earlier than it has been of late, but I think that makes a lot of sense,
especially for guests in the eastern time zone. On
tonight’s show, we will be talking to (at least) two guests, Twins
minor league pitchers Carlos Gutierrez and Tony Davis. And we’ll also continue to talk about the Twins
offseason activities, of lack of activities, depending upon your perspective.
This was also posted at
the StarTribune.com
TwinsCentric blog last night. Feel free to
leave you comments
here or there.
As expected, the Cliff
Lee sweepstakes came to an end late on Monday night. The team that he chose to
play for is what was completely unexpected. The free agent left-handed starting
pitcher who helped the Texas Rangers advance to their first World
Series in 2010 shunned the Rangers and the big-spending Yankees to sign with
the Philadelphia Phillies, the team he helped to the 2009 World Series championship.
Lee has agreed to what is believed to be a five year deal worth approximately
$115 million (with vesting option for sixth year). The Rangers and Yankees had
both reportedly offered seven years, so Lee gave up $20-40 million in this
decision.
Can I just reiterate
the best part of that first paragraph, please? Cliff Lee shunned the New
York Yankees. OK, that made me smile. The Yankees offered the most money, and
Lee still chose to go to a place that he loved, that he wanted to be. Sure, the
MLB Player's Association will likely reprimand him, but I applaud him in this
decision. It is actually refreshing to hear that it apparently wasn't
completely about the money. (That said, Lee and his
agent will find that their lives will be more comfortable from this point
forward still.)
Lee will join a starting
rotation that already includes Roy Halladay,
Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels.
Sure, the Phillies lost Jayson Werth to the Nationals
in free agency, but I think a lineup that still includes Chase Utley, Ryan
Howard, Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino and others
will likely score enough runs to make those starters successful.
The Yankees have to be
reeling. They generally don't lose out on players that they deem their highest
priority. So now what will they be doing? How quickly will they put
together a package for Zach Greinke? Who else will
they be going after at this point? Between losing out on Lee and watching
the Red Sox add Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez, we have to assume that the
Yankees feel the need to do something big. The early thoughts have been that
the Yankees will spend a significant amount of money on bullpen. Could they be
interested in Jesse Crain, Brian Fuentes and/or Matt Guerrier? Interestingly,
the Red Sox have shown interest in all three of them as well.
What about the Rangers?
Nolan Ryan was pretty clear about his desire to land the already-32-year-old
left-hander. What do they do now? Will they trade Michael Young and attempt to
acquire Adrian Beltre? What other pitchers are
could they acquire? Maybe Matt Garza? They
will also make an attempt to acquire Greinke from the
Royals. For what they were willing to pay Lee, they could add two, maybe three,
high-quality starters.
One other name that the
Rangers have shown interest in is Twins free agent right-hander, Carl Pavano. All along, we knew that Pavano
would wait until Lee signed because the loser(s) of the Lee sweepstakes may be
interested in Pavano. We know that he will not be
going back to the Yankees, but the Rangers are a real possibility. Or, maybe he
will look at the Lee situation and decide that he loves Minnesota and Ron Gardenhire and sign with the Twins, after all.
It's strange that a free
agent signing can make a person really feel good. I feel good that Lee didn't
sign with the Yankees. I feel happy that he chose comfort and happiness over an
extra $23-40 million. I am excited to see what that Phillies rotation will do.
And I'm also excited because the Cliff Lee signing will hopefully signal the
end of the Carl Pavano saga, whatever his decision
might be.
Please feel free to Comment
in the Comment section or at the StarTribune.com
TwinsCentric blog.