Texas Rangers Land Cliff Lee, Mark Lowe For Justin Smoak And Three Prospects

Prospects and young players are funny things. They can end up prized to the point of being overvalued, which makes it awful difficult to surrender any of the big ones for immediate gains. All things considered, though, Rangers blog Lone Star Ball thinks this was the right move for the organization:

I'm excited that we are getting Cliff Lee.  He's the best pitcher the Rangers have had since...well, probably since the 70s.  He's a dominant starter who has walked 6 batters and given up 5 homers all year. 

The price is steep.  We've said all along that the price for a true [top-of-the-rotation pitcher] would hurt.  It was going to be painful.  There is no question about that. 

And this price is painful.  It hurts to give up Smoak and Beavan.

But right now, my gut feeling is...that it is worth it.

With Lee, the Rangers immediately become an even more threatening World Series contender.

It's never easy to trade a player as good as Cliff Lee, but considering the position the Mariners were in, M's blog Lookout Landing thinks they did pretty well for themselves:

As for the Mariners, this rare intra-divisional megatrade brought in good, long-term talent, and good, long-term talent is what a team in our position needs. It hurts. It does. You're never prepared to lose a guy like Cliff Lee, even when you know for absolute sure that the moment is coming. It's going to hurt to watch him in another uniform. A rival's uniform. But Smoak's a huge piece - far better than anything the team gave up to get Lee in the first place - and all in all, I'm probably about as happy as I could've been about a deal that sends Lee away.

Lee was of no further use to the Mariners this season, and Smoak certainly satisfies their desire to land a Major League-ready young bat.

The Mariners, it seems, had a Cliff Lee trade with the Yankees all but sewn up when the Rangers jumped in at the last second and pried Lee away. This didn't make the Yankees very happy:

#Yankees livid with #Mariners. Believed they had deal, then M's took it to #Rangers saying put Smoak in and Lee is yours... #MLB
...
#Rangers jumped. Adams' ankle injury was excuse for M's to back out. "You just don't do business that way," one Yankee official said. #MLB

Of course, it's difficult to feel too bad for a team in New York's position, and given that they're currently the favorite to sign Lee as a free agent anyway, they are receiving very little sympathy after today's turn of events.

It appears as though the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers have settled upon who will be headed to Seattle in exchange for Cliff Lee and Mark Lowe. Jon Morosi of Fox Sports tweets:

[Mariners get] Justin Smoak, 1B; Blake Beavan, RHP; Josh Lueke, RHP; Matt Lawson, 2B/OF.

Smoak appears to be the most valuable of these prospects -- at 23 years old, he's two years removed from his collegiate career at South Carolina, where he set the all-time school record with 62 home runs. Smoak has yet to impress at the plate in the major leagues so far -- he's batting only .209 in 2010 -- but the weak-hitting Mariners are surely thinking long-term here.

Read more about this trade at SB Nation's Rangers blog, Lone Star Ball, and our Mariners blog, Lookout Landing.

Just in case there was any doubting Joel Sherman:

#Rangers' deal for Lee confirmed. #Mariners sending cash in deal. #MLB

Still no word on the other three players, but if the Mariners are sending money to offset Lee's cost, odds are they're pretty talented.

And after a day of rumor insanity, it's Joel Sherman who provides what might be the end to it all:

i have learned deal done with #Rangers, Smoak and 3 others for Lee and reliever Mark Lowe #Rangers, #Mariners

Nothing is as yet official, but this sounds pretty legitimate. Cliff Lee will give Texas an actual ace, an ace they've been lacking for years and years, as the Rangers stood as the team Lee would likely improve the most. Mark Lowe is currently out with a herniated disc, but throws hard and has shutdown reliever stuff. Justin Smoak was Baseball America's #13 overall prospect before the year, and is a 23 year old switch-hitting first baseman with patience, defense, and developing power.

We're still waiting on the identities of the other three players.

Earlier, Joel Sherman said that the Mariners were backing off the Yankees' offer, and that another team had jumped in hard. That other team?

Hearing #Rangers are working really hard on #Lee now. Tricky because of finances with team sale not complete and MLB-imposed budget

Adds Frankie Piliere, a former scout with the Rangers:

I can confirm the report by @JoelSherman1 that the Rangers are making a major push for Lee. They appear to be the team jumping in late

You have to figure that, if the Mariners are turning down a package with Jesus Montero, it's because they believe they can get more somewhere else. Texas' big piece here would likely be young 1B Justin Smoak.

Big breaking news from the NY Post's Joel Sherman:

#Mariners have turned in a different direction and #Yankees do not believe they are in it now (more to come)

To repeat the #Yankees aren't getting Cliff Lee, #Mariners concerned about David Adams ankle plus apparently another team has jumped in hard

Just half an hour ago, a Lee trade to the Yankees seemed all but done. Now, though, Sherman - who originally broke the Lee/Yankees story - says things have completely changed direction. Which honestly shouldn't necessarily come as a huge surprise. If the Yankees made the offer they were rumored to have made, the Mariners would be expected to give one last shot to all of the other Lee suitors, and it seems some other team has upped the ante.

Suppose it was only a matter of time, really -- the New York Yankees have apparently emerged as the front-runners to land Mariners pitcher Cliff Lee, and now stand "on the brink" of trading for the 2008 Cy Young award winner, this according to the New York Post's Joel Sherman.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman and Seattle GM Jack Zduriencik have been in constant contact over the last week, but it was only last night that the Seattle GM told Yankee officials he wanted to move quickly, possibly before the All-Star break. [...]

But the Yanks were definitely making the strongest move last night, coming from seeming disinterest into the clear front-runner -- and last night it seemed they were all but certain to obtain the 31-year-old lefty.

To make this move happen, the Yankees are reportedly ready to include one of their top prospects, Jesus Montero, the man who is supposed to be Jorge Posada's replacement (a move that Yankees fans are seemingly okay with).

Sherman adds that Seattle would likely get three prospects from New York, including Montero, and possibly second baseman David Adams. 

Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman has confirmed the mutual interest, saying, "The discussions appear serious, and one source said it's 'quite possible'' a deal will be consummated," while ESPN's Buster Olney is quick to point that no deal is yet in place, and in fact, the Yankees' interest could cause the others teams involved -- Twins, Rangers, Reds, Rays -- to up their offer. 

An interesting note in all of this is that Lee is scheduled to start against the Yankees Friday night as they continue a four-game series with the Mariners. If the trade is finalized on Friday, New York would likely not start Lee against Seattle, and Sherman reports there may even already be a "gentleman's agreement" to not start him at all against his former team in the weekend series.

For more on this, visit our Yankees blog, Pinstripe Alley, our Mariners blog, Lookout Landing, SB Nation Seattle, and SB Nation New York.

All along, the Twins have been presumed to be the favorites to trade for Cliff Lee and insert him into the front of their rotation. But according to Ken Rosenthal, a new leader has emerged:

One rival general manager believes the Rangers have become the favorite to land Cliff Lee.

In order to do that, they will likely need to part with Justin Smoak, currently their everyday first baseman. And sources say the Rangers’ reluctance to include Smoak in an offer for Lee is one of the biggest remaining barriers in their talks with the Mariners.

The big obstacle here is that the Mariners and Rangers share a division, and that Texas would therefore be reluctant to trade away players who could come back to hurt them down the road. But it's still a good working match, as Lee might be able to help the Rangers more than he'd be able to help any other team. Meanwhile, the organization is flooded with talented young players, of whom Seattle could get a few in return. Smoak would be a steep price to pay, but he definitely fits the mold of young, ML-ready bat that the M's are looking to get in return.

Ken Rosenthal reports on what's becoming a trend for the Mariner front office:

Executives from two different clubs interested in Cliff Lee say that the Mariners are seeking a mammoth return for the ace left-hander following a report of a substantial offer from the Twins.

One of the execs, labeling the Mariners’ request a “crazy ask,” said the M’s proposal was in excess of the Twins’ offer, as reported by AOL Fanhouse – Triple A catcher Wilson Ramos and Single A outfielder Aaron Hicks.

The Mariners are apparently participating now, rather than simply taking calls to gauge interest. And as they've done before, such as with Jarrod Washburn a year ago, they're participating by sending out extremely pricey proposals. One might balk at such a venture, but then it's all a part of negotiation, and one would expect the Mariners' initial demands to be high.

The Twins still remain the favorites to land Lee, it would appear. The Rangers, however, might be the team with the most to gain.

This one coming from FanHouse's Ed Price:

Teams still waiting to hear back from #Mariners on what they want in exchange for Cliff Lee, so this one could go on for a while.

As of this writing, 17 different teams are within five games of the playoffs. All of them are likely to be interested in Lee, so it's possible that the Mariners are just waiting to see how many offers come in before they put everything together. It's interesting to reconcile this tweet with the opinions of Seattle-area writers, who feel like Lee could be gone by the end of the week. It's hard to tell whether this will grow into a gradual bidding war, or if something will come out of nowhere. The Zduriencik front office has a track record of striking by surprise.

The Twitter rumors continue to swirl around Cliff Lee Monday night. AOL Fanhouse’s Jeff Fletcher says the Twins have made a concrete offer to the Mariners for the services of ace Cliff Lee.

A source tells Jeff Fletcher of AOL Fanhouse that the Twins have offered prospect outfielder Aaron Hicks and prospect catcher Wilson Ramos to the Mariners for left-hander Cliff Lee.

Hicks was the Twins’ No. 1 draft pick in 2008 and is considered one of the Top 50 prospects in the minors. Ramos is considered Minnesota’s third-best prospect and would likely be on the squad right now if not for some guy named Joe Mauer.

Late Monday night a rumor hit Twitter that a trade sending Cliff Lee to Minnesota was a "done deal." Evidently, the rumor began with a tweet sent by Mark Anderson, a reporter with the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Anderson sent a tweet to John Fay, a reporter with the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Here's Anderson's tweet:

@johnfayman Detroit radio saying deal between Cliff Lee and Twins a done deal.

So, a reporter based in Las Vegas told a reporter based in Cincinnati about something he heard in or from Detroit, about a deal between teams in Seattle and Minnesota. Got all that?

Anderson's tweet is less than an hour old, but in that time it has been re-tweeted 34 times, and thanks to that and additional second-hand discussion, the rumor has made its way around the baseball yakking community. A Minnesota TV station is denying that a deal has been made:

#Twins source denies any deal is done for Seattle pitcher Cliff Lee. Twitter rumblings had a Detroit radio station saying it's a done deal.

However, if you want to believe that something is afoot, you could read into that tweet that merely nothing is done, right now. If you believe Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated, that is exactly what's going on. Heyman reports late tonight that discussions are ongoing between Seattle and Minnesota. According to Heyman's source, the talks are "interesting" and "have possibilities."

Stay tuned. Maybe.

Confirming what Ed Price speculated earlier:

MLB source confirms @ed_price tweet that #stlcards are interested in C.Lee. Not sure where talks stand. #mariners

Adam Wainright, Chris Carpenter, and Jaime Garcia have made each of their starts so far for the Cardinals, with exceptional results. Brad Penny and Kyle Lohse, however, are both injured, leaving some spots open. With Lee, St. Louis would easily have the most dominant rotation in baseball. It's unclear, though, whether they have the pieces to swing a trade on their own, as they have a weak farm system.

According to FanHouse's Ed Price, there may be a new suitor for Cliff Lee's services:

A mystery tm (©S.Boras) is on Cliff Lee, & the #Cardinals may be it. Class A RHP Shelby Miller, '09 1st-rounder, is possible chip. #Mariners

It's important to note that both the inclusion of the Cardinals and the naming of Shelby Miller are speculation on Price's part, but it makes some degree of sense, as St. Louis faces questions at the back of its rotation and could add Lee to make a killer 1-2-3.

Lee is set to face the Yankees in New York on Tuesday night in his toughest matchup of the season.