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From George A. King III :

The Mariners are scouting the Yankees’ organization thoroughly.

They had two scouts recently in Charleston (Single-A). Last night they had two scouts watching Trenton play Reading, one of whom was former Yankees minor league coach Bill Masse.

They are slated to have at least one scout check on SWB shortly.

The immediate need for the Yankees is a bat, but if the Mariners are going to shop Lee the Yankees will be interested because he will be a free agent after the season.

Of course, he is making $9 million this season, so even if the deal is made at the July 31 deadline the Yankees would have to pay him three million.

If they were to give up Austin Romine or Jesus Montero, the Yankees would need assurances that Lee would sign an extension and not become a free agent.

As for adding a bat, the Yankees have scouts following the Astros in the event that the club holds a fire sale and wants to move first baseman Lance Berkman, who would be a DH for the Yankees.

There are obstacles to adding Berkman, or any other high-priced bat like the White Sox’s Paul Konerko, because of the money owed.

Berkman is making $14.5 million this year and Konerko $12 million. Berkman has a complete no-trade clause; Konerko a limited no-trade.

According to King, “a person familiar with Seattle’s thought process if they deal with the Yankees” said the Mariners would “want one of the catchers and (Eduardo) Nunez,’’ for Lee.

I actually don’t think the Yankees will be in on Lee, at least not until the winter when they have the possibility to sign him as a free agent. Until then, I think the Yankees are pretty content with their starting rotation.

Andy Pettitte and Phil Hughes have been two of the best starters in the league. A.J. Burnett has been good, and while CC Sabathia has struggled, I’m sure nobody in the organization is too worried about him. On top of that, Javier Vazquez is throwing the ball a lot better these days.

As far as pitching goes, I think the Yankees should be focusing on a reliever to help sure up this bullpen.

To me that’s the only major flaw in this team.

Regarding Berkman and Konerko, the Yankees could land either player if they want to take on a decent amount, though I’m not sure they want to do that right now.

However, if they get to a point where a big bat will get them over the hump, their minds would change quickly.

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Don’t expect the New York Yankees to publicly admit to wanting both or either of these players.

According to MLBTradeRumors.com, George A. King III of the New York Post says the Yankees are likely to be interested in both Mariners starting pitcher Cliff Lee and Astros first baseman Lance Berkman.

The Yankees have five quality starters on the team at this point, so many may think pursuing Lee would be pointless. In all reality, adding Lee would be more of a move for next season.

Andy Pettitte and Javier Vazquez are free agents after this season, so the Yankees will need another starter if they do not re-sign either or both.

The Seattle Mariners are apparently expecting the Yankees to inquire about Lee. They have been sending scouts to check out the Yankees’ farm teams, a sign they are taking a look at potential trade bait.

It is being reported the Mariners will likely seek Triple-A shortstop Eduardo Nunez and one of the Yankees’ catching prospects.

Would you give up Nunez and Austin Romine or Jesus Montero for Cliff Lee? Lee is one of the league’s top pitchers, but you better be darn sure you can sign him to a long-term contract if you are going to give up prospects of that caliber.

Continue reading at Double G Sports.

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I remember rumors about Adam Dunn or Alex Rodriguez heading to the Dodgers at one point in time and just thinking about how it made me laugh because the likelihood of the Dodgers getting any highly-priced player was doubtful.

Even in a big market city like Los Angeles, the Dodgers never spent the money needed for an A-Rod, Dunn, or any ace pitcher for that matter. 

The Dodgers have always been known for building from within, and most Dodger fans liked this idea, but when it hasn’t won them a World Series in over 20 years, they start to wonder. 

Then the Manny era began.

No one would have believed it if you told them the day before the trade, that one of the best right-handed hitters of all time would land in LA. That huge trade set off an explosion in the fan base commonly known as Manny Mania and even Mannywood.  

Could there be another highly-priced player coming to the Dodgers?

According to the Los Angeles Times, the Dodgers have inquired about Cliff Lee of the Seattle Mariners and Roy Oswalt of the Houston Astros.  Both teams happen to be in last place in their respected divisions and both players have insisted on wanting to leave. 

For example, Oswalt recently suggested waiving his no-trade clause and asked to be traded from Houston, and Lee has certainly made it clear to the Mariners that he does not want to pitch in Seattle for much longer. 

Contract-wise, Oswalt is signed through 2011 and has a much larger salary than Lee. However, this is the last year on Lee’s contract and he is likely to test the free agent waters this winter.  

So, which is more likely?

If you look at most of the trades the Dodgers have made over the past few years, they have done the “rent a player” strategy, which is trading for players who are on their last year of their contract and basically renting them for the last half of the season, and they usually leave to the free agent market that winter. 

Manny Ramirez, Jon Garland, Jim Thome, Julio Lugo, and many other players have come to Chavez Ravine for this reason.  Luckily, the Dodgers were able to retain Ramirez but at a high price. 

The classic “rent a player” in this case, would be Lee.  The problem with this strategy is that in order to obtain a player of his stature, the Dodgers would have to dig into their bag of plentiful prospects in the minors and basically give them away assuming Lee doesn’t re-sign with the Dodgers. 

Here’s the good news though: Manny has said that this will be his last year in LA.  

After his contract is finished, the Dodgers will have $25 million to play with to use for a couple players in Manny’s place.  It is likely that the Dodgers could attract Lee in the offseason, with or without a trade.  

Do you catch my drift?

Now, the big downside to this scenario of trading for a veteran ace is trading top prospects like Dee Gordon—an amazing young shortstop—or players already in the major leagues like Xavier Paul, Manny’s apparent heir to left field next year, or John Ely or another pitcher.

Either way, the Dodgers will lose some brilliant young talent for a player who might only stay a half of a season.  Here’s a little information on the two pitchers.

Oswalt, who will be 33 in August, is a right-handed pitcher with a 10-year career in Houston, posting a 140-76 lifetime record.  Oswalt has had two, 20-game winning seasons and for the first time last year, did not win 10 or more games in a single season. Oswalt is not known for his strikeouts as much now because of his increasing age. 

This is one good pitcher to have on any rotation because he is consistent and he has stayed healthy for almost his whole career.  Oswalt has posted a 3.20 ERA and 1,542 strikeouts over his career and is 3-6 with a 2.36 ERA this year.

Lee, who will be 32 in August, is a left-handed pitcher who has had a nine-year career with Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Seattle, posting a 92-54 record.  Lee has been pretty inconsistent throughout his career and has just recently found his grove.  Most people do not know this unless you look at his numbers, but Lee’s ERA tends to jump up and down every season. 

From 2004, his first full year in the majors, his ERA was almost five and a half, then the next year it was 3.79, then 4.40, then 6.29, then 2.54.  It has only been the last three years that Lee has been able to post consistent numbers.  

Out of his nine career seasons, he’s only been able to stay healthy in the majors for five. 

In 2008, Lee won an incredible 22 games, only losing three.  Unfortunately, Lee hasn’t really posted numbers anywhere close to this before.  His best season before that was in 2005, when he went 18-5.  Overall, Lee is a very good pitcher and can boost any team’s rotation.

Oswalt or Lee would be great additions to the Dodgers and could possibly help them in a World Series-run this fall. 

It is not certain if the Dodgers will indeed trade for one of them because it will be hard for a team like the Astros or the Mariners to trade their ace (although the Mariners have three potential ace-caliber pitchers including Lee, Bedard, and Hernandez) and it will be hard for the Dodgers to let go of potential young stars in the making.

My opinion: If you ask me, I would rather trade pitching prospects for Oswalt only because the Dodgers already have a young core of pitchers including Kershaw, Billingsley, Ely, and Monasterios.  Adding a well-known, consistent, veteran like Oswalt will only help the Dodgers develop these young pitchers. 

As of now, the Astros do not want to trade Oswalt, but they might change their mind if the right package arises around the right time.  If the Dodgers do make a deal, I’d expect it to be on July 31 as always, and we’ll only know last second what Colletti and McCourt pull out of their sleeve.

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Last week, it was announced that right-handed starting pitcher Roy Oswalt requested a trade from the Houston Astros.

The three teams that were rumored to be the favorites for Oswalt were the Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers. The Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers are believed to be interested as well.

However, some Yankee fans wondered and speculated if Oswalt would come to the Yankees, or if they could get a decent package together worthy enough to get Oswalt. One writer on here even did a column centering around a package that included Javier Vazquez and prospects to get Oswalt, which many of you thought of as unreasonable and unlikely, a feeling I shared as well.

Today, according to Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman, the Yankees all but killed any rumor of involving themselves in the Oswalt chase. Heyman said one Yankees official told him that, “we like our rotation the way it is right now.”

It makes sense that the Yankees wouldn’t need to pursue a starting pitcher right now given how well their rotation has been.

Andy Pettitte is 6-1 with a 2.62 ERA, A.J. Burnett is 5-2 with a 3.55 ERA, Phil Hughes is 5-1 with a 2.72 ERA, CC Sabathia is 4-3 with a 3.86 ERA and Javier Vazquez is 3-4 with a 6.69 ERA (23-11 overall record for the five Yankee starters).

A lot of people wondered if Vazquez was going to be removed from the rotation after his 1-4 start, but he’s been very strong in his last three outings, one of which was a relief appearance against the Red Sox. In his last start, he kept the Mets to one hit over six scoreless innings for his third win of 2010.

If Vazquez is starting to come around for the Yankees, then they really won’t need to pursue pitching, especially after they re-acquired Chad Gaudin yesterday.  Gaudin will be in the bullpen for now, but can be an emergency starter if needed.

With the Oswalt speculation out of the way, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal did bring up an interesting point in his story yesterday.

If and when Cliff Lee becomes a free agent, the Yankees would be more interested in pursuing Lee after the 2010 season, rather than parting with prospects right now in order to get Oswalt.

This tactic from the Yankees is nothing new, and if anything, it’s a smart one and the right move.

We know how well Cliff Lee can pitch in the American League and in the big games. All you need to do is re-visit Games One and Five of the 2009 World Series where Lee won both against the Yankees, and Game One was a complete-game gem at Yankee Stadium.

We don’t know how well Roy Oswalt would pitch in the American League and especially in the American League Playoffs because he has spent his entire career in the National League with Houston.

Since the Braves, Cardinals and Nationals came up, a lot of people feel like Oswalt is more comfortable pitching in the National League, rather than moving to the American League.

Plus, there have been multiple sources that have said that Oswalt doesn’t want to come to New York, whether it be with the Yankees or Mets.

Now, we are also two months away from the July 31 trading deadline. As of right now, the Mariners, currently in last place of the A.L. West at 18-28, are not shopping Lee. At least not right now, considering things can change in two months.

If Lee did get dealt somewhere else, like the Dodgers, who have made inquiries to Seattle, it could change things in the offseason, but a lot of people feel that Lee will test the market to get a major payday before the 2011 Season.

All of this seems like it’s so far away since it’s the end of May and baseball season is only two months in, but given that this could very well be Pettitte’s last season and Vazquez will be a free agent next season, the Yankees will be looking to replenish the rotation in the future.

They have done this thing before, such as when they decided to sign Sabathia in free agency over trading for Johan Santana and then signing him long-term, like the Mets had to do.

Right now, the sights of the Yankees is on the 2010 season. But deep somewhere in the back of their head, Lee’s availability is floating around.

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With each passing day, the events surrounding Ken Griffey Jr.’s alleged mid-game snooze are becoming less clear in the eyes of many within the sport.

Seattle Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said Ken Griffey Jr. was not asleep in the clubhouse in the eighth inning last Saturday night.

He was indeed on the bench and available to pinch-hit, contradicting parts of a story that appeared in The Tacoma (Wash.) News Tribune on Monday.

In case you yourself were napping and missed it, The News Tribune story quoted two young players, who spoke off the record, saying that Griffey was asleep in the clubhouse during the game Saturday night.

When asked whether he was asleep in the clubhouse, Griffey was vague. He didn’t answer the specific question but said, “I wish they [the unnamed players] had been man enough to talk to me.”

Upon being asked if Griffey had been asleep in the clubhouse during the game Saturday night, Wakamatsu said Tuesday, “He wasn’t asleep. He was available to pinch hit, and I chose not to use him as the manager.”

Before Tuesday night’s game against the Baltimore Orioles , the Mariners held a players-only meeting. A club source said the meeting was organized by Mike Sweeney and “was 100 percent about Griffey” and was designed to support Griffey.

The source said that Griffey was upset and hurt by the story, and cried briefly during the meeting.

Sweeney chastised the anonymous young players for speaking about something that had happened in the clubhouse, in essence challenging the clubhouse “Deep Throats” to a fight, according to the source.

And therein lies the rub.

If Griffey was indeed NOT asleep and available, then where was the need to chastise these younger players? 

What clubhouse incident were they relaying to the world that justified this admonishment?

There is absolutely nothing that makes sense in the team’s statements, and the whole thing smells fishier than the Pike Place Fish Market .

The incident continues to make waves as each day goes by.

After the Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night, winning pitcher Cliff Lee started to address the media, then stopped and said he could not continue until the reporter from The Tacoma (Wash.) News Tribune left.

Other Mariners players followed suit with the newspaper at their lockers, according to Seattle-area media reports.

Look, I don’t want to admonish anyone for being a good teammate and looking out for one of their guys. 

The sanctity of the clubhouse is one of the values held most dear across Major League Baseball, and the Mariners can’t be happy that two of their teammates allegedly violated that trust while creating a big media controversy in the process.

But from all appearances the events outlined in the initial report seem to be in all likelihood fairly accurate , meaning the Mariners are doing nothing more than killing the messenger here.

So Seattle’s management, keep giving your contradictory statements. Cliff Lee, go on blackballing the reporter who wrote the piece. Mike Sweeney keep offering up “stitches for the snitches.” 

All y’all just keep doin’ your thing.

But if your trying to sell me that there is little or no truth to the initial story, just know that I’m not buying it.

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As it stands, the Dodgers are 15-17.

This is an appalling statistic for a team loaded with talent. Unfortunately the Dodgers are one dimensional and can’t play with the mentality of always climbing uphill; mainly due to the fact that it isn’t uncommon to be down five runs in the third inning.

The remedy would make for a story comparable to the Manny Ramirez trade. Eight letters encompass what the Dodgers desperately need: Cliff Lee.

The former property of the Philadelphia Phillies, Cliff Lee would be (by far) the most coveted player on the Dodgers radar, should he become available. It would be astounding should the former CY Young award winner become the topic of trade.

It’s still fresh in the minds of Los Angelinos how the southpaw handled their team in the post-season. Especially given the caliber of play the Dodgers were showcasing.

With that in mind, Seattle is off to a lousy start as well, dipping at 12-19. That would point to the fact that the master plan for Seattle’s organization failed, though it was gutty enough to make the moves they did.

Now it’s the Dodgers turn.

In 2005 the Boys In Blue started the “Youth Movement”. This was the idea that the team would eventually grow into All-Stars and consistently appear in the post-season.

Last year Los Angeles swept the long hated Cardinals to advance to the National League Championship Series for the second year in a row. Then it got better. They were presented with facing the Phillies again in a rematch of two formidable powers. 

Unfortunately the Dodgers had to face a test that they were not capable of passing. The unanswerable question was how to solve Cliff Lee.

The offense was scorching and Lee shut them down with insurmountable authority.

The Phillies reached the World Series and failed to defeat the Yankees, leading to the trade of… Cliff Lee. This defiantly turned out to be hard news to handle for Lee.

If geared in Dodger Blue, Lee would make the Dodgers the co-favorites to reach the NLCS, along with Philadelphia. An exciting time it could be, Roy Halladay the Ace of Spades against Cliff Lee, the answer to again becoming the boys of summer.

Los Angeles fans and players have done what they could and gotten as far as they could go. The off-season came and went, and an ugly divorce within the Dodger’s Organization replaced what would have been an arbitration offer to Randy Wolf.

Still, it could happen.

Trading a player who can help Seattle now as well as in the future should be an attractive option for the Mariners.  That player would be James Loney.

It would be a heavy loss in Dodger hearts but necessary for a possible marquee maneuver. He would be a huge upgrade form Casey Kotchman. Throw in a couple prospects such as John Ely, Carlos Monasterios, and Scott Elbert and you might have a deal.

In order for the Dodgers to even reach the post-season (let alone compete in it), they must acquire the qualified pitching. Cliff Lee would lead the rotation and present a major threat to go eight innings in every start.

Hope may be on the horizon for the Dodger faithful as baseball has a way of making the unbelievable happen.

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Every year there seems to be someone who comes back from certain retirement to once again establish themselves as a force in the baseball world.

This year is no different, and there are a number of players making surprise comebacks this season. Vernon Wells and Barry Zito come to mind immediately.

So I have decided to run down what I feel are the top ten comeback seasons of the past ten years.

Just to clarify, there is a difference between a breakout season and a comeback season. Aaron Hill last season is the perfect example of a breakout season, while Chris Carpenter was a prime example of a comeback season.

On with the list.

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Buster Olney of ESPN spoke with the agent for Seattle Mariners pitcher Cliff Lee last night about the southpaw’s future plans, and apparently signing a contract extension with the M’s is not in it.

“We’re five months away from free agency,” said Braunecker, “so I think that’s the most likely scenario at this point.”

“We’ve not really had any significant discussions with Seattle. I wouldn’t anticipate a deal [with the Mariners].”

This is great news for the Yankees because they are likely to have to replace Andy Pettitte, Javier Vazquez, or both in next year’s rotation. If Lee is on the free-agent market, that gives the Yanks a very strong option to plug into their rotation.

This was not a forgone conclusion, either, as the trend in baseball lately has been to extend big-name pitchers before they hit free agency. We’ve seen it with Roy Halladay, Johan Santana, and Josh Beckett. The fact that it appears that Lee will hit the open market should have the Yankees front office salivating.

Related Stories

• March 31, 2010: Josh Beckett Close to Resigning with Red Sox (3)
• Nov. 2, 2009: Game 5 of the World Series: Open Tread (1)
• Oct. 30, 2009: Great News! Blanton, Not Lee, To Start Game 4 (0)
• Oct. 28, 2009: Cliff Lee’s Stats Against the Yankees (0)

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Finally. Or maybe that should read, “Final-Lee?”

The Seattle Mariners made a huge trade in the offseason to acquire the services of former Cy Young winner Cliff Lee, and tonight, a month into the season, he will make his first appearance on the mound.

Lee got off on the wrong foot this year. Literally. Literal-Lee. A couple of weeks prior to spring training, he needed a minor surgery on his foot and would miss the start of the exhibition season.

Spring training was no kinder to Lee, as he took the brunt of a collision with Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Chris Snyder, and strained his abdomen. He continued to pitch in the game, only to get into more trouble.

Lee’s foot and midsection injuries forced a pitch to sail over the head of Snyder in his next at-bat. The wild throw was later ruled to be intentional, resulting in a five-game suspension to start the season.

However, the injury was more of an issue than the impending suspension, and would land him on the disabled list to start the season. During the rehab process, which included an experimental, platelet-rich injection to the abdomen area, Lee’s appeal of his suspension was found to be legitimate, and MLB dropped the suspension.

His foot also seemed to heal completely. “Complete-Lee” appears to be a great descriptive for his current condition.

Lee described his injury as a “non-issue,” saying, “It has been more than a month since he felt discomfort.”

The Mariners were very cautious because this is the third time he has been sidelined with the same type of injury. The first two times, he missed significant playing time, and was not very productive immediately following the healing process.

The M’s know they most likely (“like-Lee”) have his services for just this season, so they wanted him at a hundred percent so he could contribute at his normal, stellar capacity.

Lee is healthy now. Lee is motivated. Lee is focused.

In his Triple-A start last Sunday, he allowed just three hits (including one on a bunt and one where a fly ball was lost in the sun), while striking out four and walking none.

Lee said he is anxious to “get back and help the team up in Seattle and try to have fun and let it all hang out.”

The rest of the AL West Division may be a little bit worried at this point. Seattle is just a half-game back in the standings, and they just got a whole lot better with one of their two Aces ready to take aim at division rival Texas tonight.

The balance of power in the division has shifted toward the Mariners, simply because they can now start relying on both of their Aces to carry them the rest of the year. The pennant is there for the taking, and there are five reasons Cliff Lee will be leading (“Lee”-ding”) the way.

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