Levine fires back at Rangers' Greenberg

After Texas Rangers CEO Chuck Greenberg tweaked the Yankees for a second time, Yanks president Randy Levine quickly raised the volume in a war of words between the clubs.

Less than three months after angering Hal Steinbrenner by saying Yankees fans were "awful,'' an "embarrassment'' and "either violent or apathetic'' during the ALCS, Greenberg implied that the Rangers prevented the Yankees from signing free agent Cliff Lee, who spurned both teams and went to the Phillies.

"I think if we wouldn't have gone to Arkansas [to visit Lee] that last time, I think he was going to sign with the Yankees,'' Greenberg was quoted at a fan festival in Arlington, Texas. "We pried the door open a little bit to give ourselves another opportunity. And ultimately the Phillies were able to take advantage of that opportunity that we created. While we would have preferred that he would have chosen to go with us, we're real pleased that he's going to the other league.''

In a published report, Levine responded, "If [Greenberg] really wants to impress us, then he can get the Rangers off of welfare and show how they can be revenue-sharing payors, rather than recipients for three years in a row, without financing from Major League Baseball. That would really be something . . . I think Chuck is delusional. He's been in the game a few minutes, but it seems to be that he thinks he knows what everybody else is thinking. He should really let Cliff Lee speak for himself.''

Levine did not return a call. A Rangers spokesman told Newsday that Greenberg - who apologized to Levine and Steinbrenner a few hours after making his comments about the fans Nov. 1 - would have nothing to say.

The Texas barbs have not yet risen to the volume of the all-time zinger from 2003, when Boston was outbid for pitcher Jose Contreras. That prompted Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino to call the Yankees the "Evil Empire.''