Davidoff: Yankees can afford to sit out midseason Lee sweepstakes

The Yankees view Cliff Lee, right now, the way a tycoon regards a desired Hamptons property.

He will be theirs, sooner or later. So why get him sooner when it requires a premium?

It is the right call, even after the Yankees watched Lee defeat them last night, 7-4 at Yankee Stadium, as Lee winds down his brief stay with the Mariners.

It's the right call because well-run, non-desperate baseball teams don't give up a highly regarded prospect for a three- or four-month rental, or often even a one-year rental - a precedent established quite clearly by Brian Cashman.

Let's make this clear: The Yankees are the overwhelming favorites to sign Lee this winter, when he becomes the top free agent on the market. He knows it. Otherwise taciturn, Lee responded when a reporter asked if he enjoyed pitching in the Bronx.

"Yeah, I like it," he said. "You know there's going to be a lot of fans. I've always enjoyed pitching here. They're knowledgeable fans that understand the game, and they get into it.

"As a player, that's what you like and respect. Obviously, I try to keep them as quiet as possible when I face them on this side."

Mission accomplished once again. If Lee didn't dominate the Yankees like he did last October as a Phillie, in World Series Game 1, he nevertheless enhanced his value. In pitching his third straight complete game, he allowed eight hits, walked just one and struck out two. Lee finished the month of June having issued two free passes in 51 innings.

"It's pretty much the same every time we see him," Derek Jeter said. "He's a perfect example of guys who will come after you, throw strikes. He's not going to hurt himself. He doesn't walk anybody. It's not like you can sit around and be patient."

Lee has been great for the Mariners; despite missing the first month with a right lower abdominal strain. Nevertheless, with a 32-44 record, Seattle pretty much has no chance to make its season relevant.

"We're just trying to win baseball games, trying to improve this record and see what happens," Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik said. "We're here to play baseball and do the best we can."

Uh huh. It's a brave front, yet the Mariners already have communicated with Lee's suitors regarding the stud lefthander's availability.

You know about the Mets. They'll be in on Lee until he goes somewhere. They're reluctant to surrender top young players, but they also know they have a potentially special season going on, at a time when they're absolutely desperate to get back into the playoffs.

Ah, yes, there's that word again. Desperate. It's what the Yankees are not.

Cashman didn't trade Phil Hughes for Johan Santana in the winter of 2007-08 because he envisioned sucking it up for '08 and fielding a 2009 starting rotation featuring Hughes and CC Sabathia. That's the same reason he didn't give up Hughes for Sabathia himself in the middle of the '08 campaign.

Jesus Montero might not prove to be much of anything. As a trade chip now, however, he can get more than three months of a player - however great - the Yankees don't necessarily need to win it all again.

"I'm going to help this team win every time I take the mound until I'm told you're with another team," the stoic Lee said. "And then I'm going to try to help the other team win. If I even get traded."

Baseball's tycoons will have their shot at Lee. They became tycoons, however, because they know when to pull the trigger. Now is not that time.