The Rangers would welcome Cliff Lee back to Arlington, but talks with the Phillies might lead Texas to shop elsewhere.
According to ESPN.com, Lee is a target of the Rangers again. The asking price — as it was in free agency before the 2011 season, when Lee left the Rangers to sign with the Phillies — will be prohibitive unless a team decides Lee can be the missing piece to a World Series run.
Lee was acquired in July 2010 from Seattle and helped guide the Rangers to the World Series. He became a free agent in the offseason and signed with a five-year, $120 million deal with the Phillies, who’d dealt Lee to the Mariners in December 2009.
Lee is 1-6 with a 3.95 ERA this season. He’s a month away from his 34th birthday with three years, $75 million remaining on his contract after the 2012 season. There’s also a vesting player option for the 2016 season, when Lee will be 37, worth $27.5 million. The option is automatically guaranteed with 200 innings pitched in 2015 and has a $12.5 million buyout clause.
The Rangers might be more willing to make a move for a pitcher after Neftali Feliz was scratched from his injury rehab start on Sunday.
Right-hander Colby Lewis is out for the season with a torn flexor tendon in his right elbow. He had been the team’s postseason ace in two runner-up World Series finishes, going 4-1 with a 2.34 ERA with 44 strikeouts in 50 innings.
Veteran right-hander Roy Oswalt, who signed at midseason, missed one start with back stiffness and has had chronic back issues in his career.