It happened in the blink of an eye, but today Cliff Lee went from Seattle’s starter for tonight, to “imminently” wearing Yankee pinstripes, before finally landing with the Texas Rangers. Him and Mark Lowe were sent to the Rangers in exchange for Justin Smoak and minor leaguers Blake Beaven, Matt Lawson, and Cory Lueke. Only Smoak was considered a top prospect.
Joel Sherman of the NY Post reported that a deal with the Yankees centered around Jesus Montero and Double-A 2B David Adams was imminent, but the Mariners backed off, likely due to the fact that the Rangers were contending with a better package.
Lee will not sign an extension, but the Rangers sure look like a World Series contender now. They may be the team to beat in the AL outside the Yankees.
So what does this mean for the Mets? Well, Cliff Lee is clearly no longer an option. The main prize on the market is now Roy Oswalt. He has a no-trade clause, but might waive it now that the Mets are contenders. The Astros are reportedly still asking for a lot in exchange for Oswalt, but Matt Cerrone has relayed from sources that the Astros are willing to take on a team’s bad contract if the team picks up all of Oswalt’s remaining $30 million. The Mets are also interested in LHP Ted Lilly, who will be a Type A free agent at the end of the year, and might not call for too much in exchange.
After dropping 2 of 3 at home to the Reds, the Mets head into a HUGE series against the Braves. The Mets are 47-38, with the Braves 3 games ahead of them. The Mets, with a series win, would head into the Break 10 games over .500. They have cooled off since they headed to Puerto Rico (4-6 in their last ten), and it seems like a lot of the team really needs the break, particularly Mike Pelfrey and Ike Davis to name a few. Not to mention Carlos Beltran should be back next Thursday in San Francisco.
Before the lineup, some news: Jose Reyes had an MRI on his oblique come back clean. Ryota Igarashi was optioned to St. Lucie and Nick Evans, who has been raking in Binghamton, has been brought up. Igarashi is to remain in St. Lucie until the Mets finish up their 11-game road trip (Post-Break) to work on his secondary pitches.
So, here it is:
1. Angel Pagan CF
2. Jose Reyes SS
(Your guess on these first two is as good as mine.)
3. David Wright 3B
4. Ike Davis 1B
5. Jason Bay LF
6. Josh Thole C
7. Jeff Francoeur RF
8. Ruben Tejada 2B
9. R.A. Dickey RHP
Atlanta’s starter is Tommy Hanson, who has been roughed up a bit this year (4.19 ERA), but has pitched very well against the Mets in two career starts.
Let’s go Mets!!!
Some genuinely fascinating information, effectively written and generally user genial .