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Buster Olney Buster_ESPN The Yankees and Mariners had actually had an agreement-in-principle, based on the physicals -- and SEA stepped away, which is all fair game. 1 minute ago via web And it looks like it paid off big time.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 9, 2010 -> 04:03 PM) You can bet those 3 others will be pretty damn good also. It's an incredible haul for the Mariners. Trading for Lee might be one of the best moves Jack Zduriencik ever makes. Amazing.

Looks like the Rangers are chipping in extra spects for salary relief just as you'd think: BNightengale #mlb Rangers may have Mariners eat part of Lee's salary in return for additional prospects, just as they did with SF for Molina. 10 minutes ago via web Ken_Rosenthal #Rangers' deal for Lee confirmed. #Mariners sending cash in deal. #MLB less than a minute ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

Smoak? Nice get for the M's.

BNightengale #mlb Now with the Yankees out, it's a clear two-team race for Lee between the Rangers and Reds. 4 minutes ago via web There Twins aren't being mentioned anywhere.

Buster_ESPN The Mariners expressed health concerns about the Yankees' second prospect in the deal, David Adams. They asked for others, and (more) less than a minute ago via web

Ken_Rosenthal #Reds have spoken "extensively" to M's about Lee over last 48 hrs, source tells FOXSports.com's Jon Paul Morosi. #Rangers also in. #MLB 5 minutes ago via web :pray :pray

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Jul 9, 2010 -> 03:11 PM) Apparently the "mystery team" is the Rangers. I would believe they would offer a package around Smoak. Olney agrees. Buster_ESPN Rangers are back on Lee. Hard to imagine Texas making this deal happen without Justin Smoak being part of the deal. less than a minute ago via web

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 9, 2010 -> 02:31 PM) And Greg, still don't think they're trying to get #400 at home for Andruw? We are going up against another lefty.

Seems like things are moving pretty fast. SI_JonHeyman #rangers 1 of a few teams jumping in with big snag in yankees/lee trade talk 2 minutes ago via mobile web

Alright this s*** is getting merged.

Why do I have a sick feeling? I f***ing hate mystery teams, my common sense needs to kick in and remove these butterflies from my stomach.

Buster_ESPN Source:SEA-NYY talks stalled over identity of second player in the deal, second baseman David Adams.We'll see if another team has jumped in. 2 minutes ago via web

Buster_ESPN Source:SEA-NYY talks stalled over identity of second player in the deal, second baseman David Adams.We'll see if another team has jumped in. 2 minutes ago via web

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 9, 2010 -> 02:52 PM) Really? I must be thinking of someone else, I thought NYY had a defensive guy at C they were high on, I assumed it was Montero. Clearly I'm not up on some of the prospects in other systems. Francisco Cervelli? Young, defensive wiz who is garnering more and more love in NY.

Buster_ESPN Heard this: At 3:45 E. time, big concerns arising within the negotiation that the SEA-NYY Cliff Lee deal could break up. Fluid situation. 3 minutes ago via web

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 9, 2010 -> 02:48 PM) Retherford is a man without a position, he's a sub-par defender everywhere on the field, and probably a utility man if he makes the majors. There are also some makeup questions about him, and his attitude. Torres is just not nearly the prospect McAllister is, without even getting into the age discussion. Torres is a nice guy to have in the system, but nothing terribly special. Best case he's a back of the rotation starter for a weak team, more likely he's a long or middle reliever. I just saw K's post, and yeah, Flowers is not only much older and slower to develop, but also I believe Montero is considered a defensive wizard, and I don't think Flowers is anything like that. Montero might end up being a DH.

QUOTE (pktmotion @ Jul 9, 2010 -> 02:34 PM) Wow, No, what a sound rebuttal. Montero's line after 4 seasons: .309/.368/.486/.855 Flower's line after 5 seasons: .281/.392/.490/.882 Flowers also has ~20 more HR/ ~60 more RBIs. Flower's(.63) BB/K ratio is better than Montero's(.53). The only thing Montero has on Flowers is the bloated over-evaluation of AL-East minor league systems. But back to the comparisons. 2B David Adams 3 seasons: .281/.370/.439/.809 CJ Retherford 4 seasons: .283/.336/.464/.800 CJ has 3 times as many HR and twice as many RBIs than Adams. RHP Zach McAllister: 37-27 3.14 ERA 1.204 WHIP Carlos Torres: 35-32 3.49 ERA 1.317 WHIP McAllister is better than Torres here. But keep in mind Torres has pitched fairly decent when he was called up to the Majors. Very similar trade packages; only thing is NYY prospects are ridiculously overvalued. You know Montero is nearly 4 years younger than Flowers, right? He also doesn't have Tyler's history of PED use. Also, CJ Retherford (the 25 year old, tool-less undrafted free agent that's bombing at 2 levels) is really a non-prospect and Torres (27 years old) is basically a guy. You can't just ignore tools and age and pretend that it's feasible to compare all stats in a vacuum.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jul 9, 2010 -> 12:46 PM) They will sign him in the offseason, but I guarantee they won't do it during the year. That's their policy, and if they won't change it for Jeter or Rivera, I'm sure Lee will be no different. By "soon" (should have said quick) I mean right after the World Series, we won't make it more than a few days into the exclusive negotiating period before he's locked up. Any team that had plans to go hard after him this offseason won't even get a chance to talk to him. I suppose this goes without saying, though. When you have the resources that the Yankees do there's no reason to negotiate in season.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jul 9, 2010 -> 12:43 PM) Yanks also picked up Chad Tracy. f***ing hell, these assholes just keep buying all the best players in the game. How do they get away with this s***?

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jul 9, 2010 -> 12:40 PM) That ballpark in KC helps. Mid 80's at the cell tonight and hopefully Quentin will be back in there.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jul 9, 2010 -> 12:34 PM) He's got a .240 BABIP with career norm batted ball rates. This isn't going to last. He also allows a s*** ton of fly balls. Wow. GB/FB of 0.59 would be the second lowest in the game if he were qualified and his HR/9 is under 1? HR/FB of 7.6%? Here come the home runs.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 9, 2010 -> 12:00 PM) This year so far: 3.51 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 42 K in 48 IP. He may regress eventually, hopefully tonight, but this season he has been pretty solid so far. xFIP of 4.90 (4.8 BB/9, 1.62 K/BB) definitely points toward a hard regression along with his history.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 9, 2010 -> 12:09 PM) Completely disagree. As someone just mentioned, Berkman's a legend there. Astros aren't just going to give him away. Yeah, I edited that into my post. Don't think he saw it.

Also for the sake of argument this is what ZIPS has them both doing the rest of the way: Berkman: .275/.386/.505/.891, .390 wOBA, 12 HR LaRoche: .276/.354/.504/.858, .373 wOBA, 12 HR