Did I say Yankees? I Meant Rangers Get Lee

Well, in between leaving work and running 8 miles, Cliff Lee ended up NOT going to the Yankees and instead was dealt to the Rangers, according to Joel Sherman on twitter, as forwarded by Metsblog. 

According to Jon Paul Morosi on twitter the deal is Lee and Mark Lowe for Justin Smoak, Blake Beaven, Josh Lueke and Matt Lawson.  Morosi is also reporting that the Mariners are not paying ALL of Lee's salary, as others are reporting. 

First off, I'm happy it wasn't the Yankees...

Secondly, the thing that jumps out to me is that Seattle isn't paying ALL of Lee's salary, which I think is more shocking to me that they're paying ANY.  I mean, I get that Texas has financial issues.  But they are getting Lee, Lowe and at least SOME of Lee's salary being paid for?  Does that strike anyone besides me as being a very good deal for Texas, even in spite of giving up Smoak?  Oh and on top of Lee, whose numbers are ridiculous (2.34 ERA, 86 Ks and 6 BBs), the Rangers also got Mark Lowe who's not too shabby either putting up a 3.48 ERA. 

Here's more on what Texas is giving up, to get Lee...

Smoak was hitting .209 with 8 homers and 34 RBI with the Rangers this season.  Beavan had a 2.78 ERA with 68 Ks to 12 BBs, while Josh Lueke's ERA was 3.86 as a reliever in Double-A and Matt Lawson was hitting .277 with 7 homers and 34 RBI.

While I think Smoak was a nice get for the Mariners, the Rangers also have Chris Davis who is just as capable as Smoak, and probably has more power potential at the plate.  I would imagine Davis will be brought up to replace Smoak sooner rather than later.  But overall, this is a great deal for the Rangers, and although Seattle got a good return, I just don't know if this was as big a ransom as they had originally hoped for...

Either way, it's time for the Mets to start sniffing a little harder around Ted Lilly, or Fausto Carmona...