Hamilton and Lee are Double Trouble
Stan McNeal - SportingNews.com
Oct 21, 2010
When ranking the best player-pitcher teammates in early September, you probably would have started with Albert Pujols-Adam Wainwright. Robinson Cano-CC Sabathia likely would have made the top five, as would Chase Utley-Roy Halladay, Troy Tulowitzki-Ubaldo Jimenez and maybe Ichiro Suzuki-Felix Hernandez.
Josh Hamilton-Cliff Lee might have entered the conversation, though both were ailing during the stretch drive. Seven weeks later, the Rangers' lefthanded center fielder and lefthanded starter would not merely be considered. They would be the obvious No. 1 twosome.
Hamilton has put on a display of supreme power and speed in the first five games of the American League Championship Series by hitting four homers, being part of a key double steal and running down a couple of long flies.
"Josh has five tools and in every game he'll show you one of them," Rangers manager Ron Washington says. "Some games, he'll show them all."
Lee controlled the Yankees with eight shutout innings in a Game 3 victory that turned the series in Texas' favor and improved his already sparkling 2010 postseason stats. In three playoff starts, Lee is 3-0 with a 0.75 ERA.
While the Hamilton-Lee combination clearly has established its place among dynamic duos, what remains unsettled is how long the two Rangers superstars will remain teammates. Hamilton, 29, is two years from possible free agency and is certain to return.
The unknown is Lee's next destination. His outstanding October has further established his status as the most coveted free agent on the market this offseason. Although Lee isn't worrying about next season, Texas and New York are the potential stops that make the most sense.
The Yankees, of course, have more financial wherewithal than some nations and need a starting pitcher as much as A.J. Burnett needs to find some consistency. The Yankees also have one of Lee's pals, Sabathia, to convince him that there is more to living in New York than bad traffic and overpriced restaurants.
Earlier this season, the Rangers would have been able to offer Lee little more than unbearable summers, unsettled ownership and a history of never winning a playoff series. Texas still has the heat but now the Rangers are one win from the World Series under a new ownership group that has its sights on making the organization the majors' next powerhouse.
Don't sell them short. Since Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan won an auction for the club in early August, they first lowered concession and parking prices to win over fans and then landed a TV deal that turned eyes around the sports world.
One example of their fan-friendly ways: Greenberg had decided not to raise parking fees for ALCS home games, but a miscommunication had attendants charging $15 instead of $10 before Game 1. Forty-five minutes after the gates opened, the price dropped to $10 and the Rangers later announced anyone who paid more would be due a rebate.
"What is that $5 going to do for us?" Greenberg asked. Well, not much, compared to that TV deal that figures to bring in a reported $80 million a year for the next 20 years.
Since Greenberg's group assumed ownership, keeping Lee long-term has been a stated priority. Greenberg has been building a relationship with Lee and his family since acquiring the lefthander, selling the Texas lifestyle and the fact that the Lees' home in Denton, Ark., is an easy five-hour drive. The Rangers know Lee will command a nine-figure contract wherever he goes, but Greenberg says, "Lifestyle is a lot more subjective."
Greenberg also says the Rangers are ready to step up financially. "The old Rangers are gone," he says of a club for years viewed as a small-to-mid-market franchise in revenue. We're not going into this with a peashooter."
Greenberg knows how much he will need a fully loaded checkbook to keep the Hamilton-Lee tandem intact.
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