Are the Astros a Legit Player in the Cliff Lee Sweepstakes?

If Cliff Lee isn’t a Yankee, he will almost certainly be in Texas. However, it may not be as a Ranger. Jon Heyman of SI.com has reported the Astros are one of the teams “laying in the weeds” to sign Lee. I’m certainly not about to argue someone with much more insider information than myself who, outside of the internet, only has educated guesses. But if I said I wasn’t extremely surprised by this news, I’d be lying. The Astros won’t land Cliff Lee. They have the resources to give him a very fair deal; especially if they don’t agree to an extension with Wandy Rodriguez. The key, though, is that New York has the money to give Cliff Lee an unfair deal; more than even he is worth. And the Rangers have the fortunate position of having just played in a World Series with Lee. The Astros are certainly a long shot but if nothing else, it’s nice to see Ed Wade active on the free agency market and not leaving any stone unturned. And, if a few random events all take place and Cliff Lee lands in Houston, the Astros would have one of the best rotations in the NL. Unfortunately, I put the chances of this somewhere between a snowball’s in hell and Derek Jeter being Houston’s starting shortstop on Opening Day in 2011.