Not if Chuck Greenberg has anything to say about it. Which he did a few minutes ago, when he told writers at the Rangers-Yankees game that Texas is prepared to bid competitively for Cliff Lee this winter. His words: “we’re not going into it with a peashooter.”
The Rangers just signed a big TV deal. If they take care of Yankee business today, Friday or Saturday, the World Series juju will no doubt lead to a nice uptick in season ticket sales. And of course, you can never underestimate the ego and competitiveness of a pro sports owner in Texas. In a town where Jerry Jones and Mark Cuban make headlines for putting an extra cream in their coffee, you can bet that part of Chuck Greenberg really wants to make a splash.
And if you’re Cliff Lee -- Arkansas native Cliff Lee -- wouldn’t you rather face the anemic AL West offenses all season as a team’s bona fide ace than to head to the AL East where the competition is tougher and where, if you have one bad season, you’re cast as a goat a la A.J. Burnett.
But I’m just speculating in a vacuum here. Who knows what motivates ballplayers to choose the teams they choose, at least if the money is roughly equal. All I know is that it will be nice if the Yankees have some competition for Lee’s services this offseason. Especially if that competition comes from a Texas Rangers team that has, in the space of a little over a week, catapulted itself into the national limelight.
