Cliff Lee hasn't even thrown a single pitch for the Phillies since signing his contract in December, yet the discussion surrounding him has been rampant -- at least if you're the Rangers and the Yankees, two teams he decided against playing for this offseason.Rangers owner Chuck Greenberg believes that his team deserves some credit for Lee landing in Philadelphia.
Yankees president Randy Levine thinks otherwise and became the latest Yankees front office member -- first came Brian Cashman, then Hal Steinbrenner -- to grab some headlines in a very quiet offseason for a team normally the subject of many.
"I think Chuck is delusional," Levine told ESPNewYork.com. "He has been running the Rangers for a few minutes and seems to believe he's mastered what everyone else is thinking. I think he should let Cliff Lee speak for himself."
"I'll be impressed when he demonstrates he can keep the Rangers off welfare," Levine said. "What I mean is make them not be a revenue-sharing recipient for three years in a row, without taking financing from baseball or advance money from television networks. Then I'll be impressed."
All that matters at this point is that the Phillies saw an opportunity to nab the All-Star lefty -- and they seized it. All to the chagrin of two seemingly bitter franchises.
The Rangers finished with a payroll at just over $55 million last season, while the Yankees topped in at just over $206 million. Regardless of Levine's comments, Greenberg probably thinks his Rangers had the last laugh over the Yankees in the ALCS. However, neither was able to one-up the other this offseason by reeling in the prize of free agent market.
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