Ryan: Rangers can't outspend Yankees for Lee

ORLANDO, Fla. - As the Cliff Lee sweepstakes loomed during the American League Championship Series between the Yankees and Rangers, new Texas managing partner Chuck Greenberg fired a warning shot at his deep-pocketed rivals, saying, "We're not going into this with a peashooter."

With the season over, however, it appears the Rangers might have been bitten by reality.

"If you want to talk about who would be positioned to bid the most money, you'd have to go with the Yankees," Rangers president Nolan Ryan said Thursday as he departed the owners' meetings. "That's their history. We have no reason to think it's going to be any different."

Ryan, Greenberg and Rangers general manager Jon Daniels met with Lee and his family in Arkansas on Monday; Yankees general manager Brian Cashman made the same trip last week.

The Yankees badly want to add Lee to their starting rotation, which puts Cashman and company in a very strong position to land the lefthander.

The Rangers' best hope seems to be an appeal to Lee's emotions, reminding him how much he enjoyed his half-season in Texas as he led the club to its first World Series appearance.

"I don't know how big [a factor] it is,'' Ryan said, "but I think the fact that he's familiar with our manager, familiar with our players, will help."

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Neither the Yankees nor the Rangers have made an offer to Lee, but he clearly is hoping for the clubs to engage in a bidding war that would result in a contract similar to CC Sabathia's seven-year, $161-million pact with the Yankees.