ALCS Vs. Yankees Could Play Big Role In Lee's Future
ARLINGTON (AP) -- Whichever team wins the American League championship series could get more than a trip to the World Series. They also could have the inside track on signing Cliff Lee.
After being traded three times in 1½ years, Lee gets to decide where he goes next as a free agent this offseason. Texas and New York are likely to be on his short list — the Rangers because he's already their ace, the Yankees because they likely will offer him the most money.
"I don't really get caught up in that at all, to be honest with you," Lee said Thursday. "I'm a Texas Ranger right now and we're in a good position. We're going to try to win a World Series ring. That's where my focus is. I'm not at all worried about what's going to happen in the offseason, any of that. That's not consuming any of my thoughts."
With two wins in the first round, Lee already is the winningest pitcher in Rangers playoff history. He's also the only guy to wrap up a series. A few more giddy moments like those could make it tougher to leave.
"Definitely," he said. "Once you get to a World Series with a team, that in itself is hard to do. And there's something special about that group of guys, so any time you get there — and especially if you win it — you want to come back with the same guys and do it again."
Lee was the ace in Philadelphia last season, helping the Phillies get to the World Series. He beat the Yankees twice but New York won it all. He was hoping for another chance, but was dealt to Seattle to clear space and payroll for Roy Halladay.
Lee said what made those Phillies so successful was a confidence that was "overflowing everywhere."
Does he see anything similar here?
"It's a lot easier to be more confident when you've just won the World Series like they'd done the year before," Lee said. "This is the first time the Rangers have won a playoff series, so it's different. We're definitely confident — but it's different circumstances, just different."
HANK'S YANKS: Hank Steinbrenner is feeling good about the New York Yankees' chances in what he expects to be a tough ALCS against the Texas Rangers.
"I have a lot of confidence, a lot of faith in our guys," the team co-chairman said at the Yankees' complex in Tampa, Fla. "Except for a couple new guys, they've all been through it and they've all done it. That can be a great asset."
The best-of-seven series begins Friday night in Texas.
New York struggled much of September, but it wasn't a cause for concern for Steinbrenner entering the first round of the playoffs against Minnesota — the Yankees swept the series.
"Our guys, being the defending champions, we're able to flip the switch when it counted," Steinbrenner said. "That's what I expect us to be able to do against Texas."
He said it can be tough watching the Yankees as they try for a 28th World Series title without his father, George Steinbrenner, who died at 80 in July.
"We won it last year and he saw it, so that's nice," Hank Steinbrenner said. "For them to win the World Series in memory of my dad would be really nice, too."
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.
