Sources: Cliff Lee to return to Phillies
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By Jerry Crasnick
ESPN.com
Pitcher Cliff Lee reached an agreement on a deal with the Philadelphia Phillies late Monday night, a team source told ESPNDallas.com's Richard Durrett.
Lee's agent informed the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers that they're out of the running for the free agent left-hander.
ESPN's Buster Olney confirmed that the Yankees received word late Monday that they're no longer in the picture for Lee, while Durrett confirmed that the Rangers have also been eliminated from the Lee sweepstakes.
Lee had been weighing offers from the Yankees and Rangers against a spirited late bid by his former team, the Phillies.
Lee, 32, is on the verge of joining Carl Crawford of the Boston Red Sox and Jayson Werth of the Washington Nationals as the third free agent to sign a contract of more than $100 million this offseason.
Both the Rangers and Yankees have made serious runs at Lee in recent weeks, sending emissaries to his home in Little Rock, Ark., and going beyond their initial packages to add years and dollars to their offers. The Yankees have presented Lee with a seven-year offer in excess of $140 million, while Texas' best offer reportedly topped out at six years and more than $20 million annually.
Baseball sources said the Phillies, who had been lurking on the periphery, jumped into the process with fervor after the winter meetings in Florida last week.
The Phillies previously acquired Lee from Cleveland Indians at the July 2009 non-waiver deadline, and Lee posted a 7-4 record with a 3.39 ERA during the regular season before helping lead Philadelphia to a World Series appearance against the Yankees. Lee went 2-0 with a 2.81 ERA against New York, but the Phillies fell to the Yankees in six games.
Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. traded Lee to Seattle Mariners last December in conjunction with the team's acquisition of Roy Halladay from Toronto Blue Jays, but sources said Lee developed a fondness for his teammates and the city of Philadelphia and would be interested in returning if the Phillies can come up with a package that's competitive with the Yankees and Rangers. If the Phillies were able to pull off a Lee signing, he would join Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels in a dream rotation for Philadelphia.
The Phillies' club policy typically precludes contracts of longer than three years for pitchers, and they held the line with Halladay to three years and $60 million, plus a $20 million vesting option for 2014. Given the length of Lee's other offers, the Phillies might have to break with tradition and offer a deal of at least five years to bring him into the fold.
Lee has a career record of 102-61 with a 3.85 ERA in nine seasons with Cleveland, Philadelphia, Seattle and Texas. He's 7-2 with a 2.13 ERA in the postseason over the past two years, and was unbeaten in October before suffering back-to-back losses to San Francisco Giants in the World Series.
) just traded for Adrian Gonzalez...
