Texas Rangers Land Cliff Lee, Mark Lowe For Justin Smoak And Three Prospects

The Mariners, it seems, had a Cliff Lee trade with the Yankees all but sewn up when the Rangers jumped in at the last second and pried Lee away. This didn’t make the Yankees very happy:

Of course, it’s difficult to feel too bad for a team in New York’s position, and given that they’re currently the favorite to sign Lee as a free agent anyway, they are receiving very little sympathy after today’s turn of events.

It appears as though the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers have settled upon who will be headed to Seattle in exchange for Cliff Lee and Mark Lowe. Jon Morosi of Fox Sports tweets:

Smoak appears to be the most valuable of these prospects -- at 23 years old, he’s two years removed from his collegiate career at South Carolina, where he set the all-time school record with 62 home runs. Smoak has yet to impress at the plate in the major leagues so far -- he’s batting only .209 in 2010 -- but the weak-hitting Mariners are surely thinking long-term here.

And after a day of rumor insanity, it’s Joel Sherman who provides what might be the end to it all:

Nothing is as yet official, but this sounds pretty legitimate. Cliff Lee will give Texas an actual ace, an ace they’ve been lacking for years and years, as the Rangers stood as the team Lee would likely improve the most. Mark Lowe is currently out with a herniated disc, but throws hard and has shutdown reliever stuff. Justin Smoak was Baseball America’s #13 overall prospect before the year, and is a 23 year old switch-hitting first baseman with patience, defense, and developing power.

Earlier, Joel Sherman said that the Mariners were backing off the Yankees’ offer, and that another team had jumped in hard. That other team?

Adds Frankie Piliere, a former scout with the Rangers:

Suppose it was only a matter of time, really -- the New York Yankees have apparently emerged as the front-runners to land Mariners pitcher Cliff Lee, and now stand “on the brink” of trading for the 2008 Cy Young award winner, this according to the New York Post’s Joel Sherman.

To make this move happen, the Yankees are reportedly ready to include one of their top prospects, Jesus Montero, the man who is supposed to be Jorge Posada’s replacement (a move that Yankees fans are seemingly okay with).