The Texas Rangers may sound like real estate agents in their bidding war for stud pitcher Cliff Lee. It is looking like location, location, location will have to win out over big Bronx money.
During a chat with Wall Street Journal reporter Brian Costa on Thursday, Rangers president Nolan Ryan said, "If you want to just talk about who probably would be positioned to bid the most money, you'd have to go with the Yankees," he said. "That's their history. We have no reason to think it's going to be any different."
Ryan, CEO Chuck Greenberg and GM Jon Daniels traveled to Arkansas on Monday to make their best pitch to Lee. Ryan said he got the feeling Lee liked his time in Texas, but he did not get a feeling if that would play a big role in deciding where Lee plays next season.
"We had a good meeting with him, but I can't tell you I came away thinking we're going to be the front runner," Ryan told Costa. "I didn't come away that way."
During the season, Lee and his wife, Kristen said they liked being in the DFW area because it felt like home and it was only a 40-minute flight from their hometown of Benton, Ark.
Lee's agent Darek Braunecker won't predict when the left hand pitcher will make his final decision, but it is not likely to happen before Major League Baseball's winter meetings, which take begin Dec. 6 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
