As the New York Yankees and Texas Ranger battle for position in the Cliff Lee sweepstakes, reports have leaked of offers from both teams getting up to seven years for the 32-year-old Arkansas native.
A seven-year deal would last Cliff Lee through age 39. Most starters have already long been deteriorating physically by this time.
There were only four pitchers in the 39-and-over club this past season—Jaime Moyer, Tim Wakefield, Miguel Batista, Brian Moehler—and none played up to the demands of a $140 million contract, as reports have stated the Yankees have offered Lee.
Of course, none of these four pitchers have been as dominant as Cliff Lee can be.
Then again, neither had Cliff Lee until 2008, his fourth full season for the Cleveland Indians and his age-29 season.
In the previous seasons, Lee was 51-32 with a 4.76 ERA. In 2007, the season before his Cy Young turnaround season, Lee had an ERA of 5.38 in 16 starts and was sent down to Triple-A Buffalo in July.
All signs pointed to a disappointing end to Cliff Lee’s professional baseball career.
Things turned around for the left-hander though, as Cliff Lee returned in 2008 and had himself a career year. He went 22-3 with a phenomenal 2.54 ERA and won the American League Cy Young Award.
In one full season, Cliff Lee went from a flop to the top.
He followed his 2008 performance with a stellar 2009, landing in the defending World Champion Philadelphia Phillies following a mid-season trade. Lee went 4-0 in the playoffs, including two big victories against the New York Yankees, but the Phillies ultimately lost the series 4-2—in part to struggles surrounding the rest of their pitching staff.
Cliff Lee found himself in Seattle following a trade that would bring Roy Halladay to the Phillies. He was great for the Mariners, going 8-3 with a 2.34 ERA in his first 13 starts. Despite this, he was traded mid-season once again, this time to the division-rival Texas Rangers.
The Cliff Lee pick-up put Texas in prime position for the playoffs, and with the help of a power hitting roster and a young, impressive pitching staff, the Rangers worked their way all the way into the 2010 World Series.
Unfortunately much like the previous year, Lee and the Rangers were removed quite easily by the San Francisco Giants, losing the series 4-1.
Lee struggled in his Game 1 and Game 5 starts, posting an ERA of 6.94 and allowing the series-clinching homerun in Game 5 to Edgar Renteria.
Despite his recent success, there is much to be concerned with when looking at Cliff Lee for such a long-term deal. Most pitchers’ struggles begin long before his age will be during the last years of the potential contract, and Cliff Lee would be making a lot of money for someone who likely won’t be performing up to par.
Then there’s the possibility that Lee has already hit his peak.
It is very rare for someone to turn their career around so suddenly as Cliff Lee did, and it’s even rarer to do it at the age he did while sustaining success for a long period of time afterward.
Cliff Lee is not C.C. Sabathia, he is not 28-years-old, and it’s quite possible he’s already used most of what he’s got in him.
Considering the Yankees’ history with big pitcher signings in the past—most recently A.J. Burnett—Brian Cashman and company should be a bit more cautious when pursuing Cliff Lee.
He is demanding a contract that is outside his range at this point, and both the Yankees and Rangers would be foolish to tie themselves up with a pitcher for seven years who may only give them three to five good ones, if that.
Unfortunately, it appears that Cliff Lee will ultimately get what he wants, and if that’s the case, it’s likely the always eager Yankees will be the ones to suffer for it.
I guess it’s really as Lee’s agent Darek Braunecker said, “It’s good to be Cliff Lee.”
It most certainly is.
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