The Yankees have offered Cliff Lee an assortment of contract choices ranging from five years to seven years, The Post has learned.It's also been reported today that the Rangers are having a third meeting with Lee and have asked Lee's agent what it would take to sign him. The Angels remain in the mix as well.
The idea is to give Lee a range of options that, the Yankees hope , separate them from whatever field remains for the ace lefty’s services. Yankees officials presented Lee’s agent, Darek Braunecker, with the parameters of these proposals at the outset of free agency, but Braunecker asked that nothing formal be presented until the past two days at the Winter Meetings.
The Yankees' offers work on a scale in which the shorter the term, the higher the annual average value. It is believed the bids work something like this: five years for $125 million; six years for $144 million; seven years for $161 million; or $25 million a year, $24 million a year and $23 million a year, respectively.
Besides all that, there are rumors flying around that the Yankees may be willing to go as high as $180 million for as long as 8 years if necessary. I hope both are untrue. Sorry, but Cliff Lee isn't THAT good.