Veteran lefty Cliff Lee is the jewel of the free agent market, by far the best pitcher available. It's expected that his services will be determined by a bidding war between the Rangers and the Yankees, as the Rangers want to re-sign the ace who helped carry them to the World Series, and the Yankees want a guy to put at the top of their rotation with CC Sabathia.
Cliff Lee Not Likely To Sign With Nationals, Despite Report
Early Tuesday, however, there was a report that the Washington Nationals might be preparing a huge offer for Lee. The Nationals have already thrown crazy money at Jayson Werth, and there was a rumor they might be willing to offer Lee a seven-year contract - longer than the expected contract offers from Texas and New York.
But leave it to Adam Kilgore to shoot those rumors down. Says Kilgore:
Well, even with the Nationals ready spend, spend, spend, don’t get too excited about Lee in Washington.
“Not happening,” one Nationals source said.
“Zero chance,” said another.
Kilgore doesn’t rule the Nationals out of the Lee sweepstakes entirely, but he does confirm that they won’t offer a seven-year contract unless things drastically change. And if the Nationals don’t offer Lee a seven-year contract, it’s hard to see how they could ever end up with him with such fierce and more desirable competition in the other league.
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