Yankees Reportedly Will 'Be In Early' on Cliff Lee

Stop me if you've heard this before: the New York Yankees won't waste any time in courting this winter's biggest free-agent pitcher.

Well, I'm going to continue anyway.

The Yankees, who were eliminated in the ALCS by the Texas Rangers, will try to take the most-prized possession from the World Series runners-up, lefthander Cliff Lee, who made New York look feeble this postseason.

In fact, one baseball official told the New York Daily News that the Yanks "will be in early with Lee. ... I don't know if they'll make an offer right away, but they'll be in quickly."

The exclusive window for teams to negotiate with their own free agents expires Saturday at midnight.

Of course, the Yanks did the same prior to the 2009 season with CC Sabathia, who has aced New York's staff the past two seasons. This time around, however, it doesn't seem like the Yankees have as much competition for Lee as they did for Sabathia.

The Rangers, whose financial problems have been well-chronicled, seem to be New York's main competitors. The Daily News reported the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim may be a wild-card entrant into the Lee sweepstakes. The newspaper cited the desire of Angels owner Arte Moreno to spend big after his team's flop in 2010.

Sabathia, a 21-game winner in 2010, may further prove his worth to the Yankees as a recruiter. Sabathia and Lee were teammates with the Indians earlier in their careers and remain close friends. The Daily News reported that Sabathia's wife, Amber, scouted out a rental house for Lee and his family when it was rumored he would be traded to New York last July.

Lee might be able to afford a house near Sabathia, who lives in exclusive Alpine, N.J. Sabathia earned a seven-year, $161 million deal from the Yanks, who may offer Lee a deal with similar annual value. The 32-year-old Lee figures to sign for a shorter term since he is four years older than Sabathia was when the big lefthander inked his deal.

Beyond Sabathia and young righthander Phil Hughes, the Yankees' rotation is up in the air. Andy Pettitte may retire; Javier Vazquez's contract expired, most likely allowing him to return to the National League where he had prospered; A.J. Burnett, while still under contract, has been an inconsistent performer in pinstripes.

In other words, the Yanks need starting pitching and, most likely, they'll get the league's best free-agent pitcher by any means necessary.

That's not the only piece of offseason business pending for the Yankees, who are faced with the free agency of established stars Derek Jeter, 36, and Mariano Rivera, 40.

New York reportedly will seek a reduction in Jeter's annual salary, which paid him an average of $18.9 million over the last 10 years. The future Hall of Famer made $22.6 million in 2010, when he had one of his worst offensive seasons.