Report: Red Sox Lead Suitor For Cliff Lee
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The Red Sox want Cliff Lee. The Phillies want to help the Red Sox fulfill their wish for Lee. The problem may be that the Phillies want more than the Red Sox will give.
Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports that the Red Sox are the most serious, if not the only suitor for Phillies lefthander Cliff Lee. Heyman reports that the Phillies are willing to add Michael Young to the deal, if Young is willing to waive his no-trade clause.
Lee is eminently available now, though the Phillies aren't in a position where they have to get rid of the money. He has about $70 million to go through 2015 (including a $12.5 million buyout for '16). "If it's a good deal Ruben [Amaro] will make it,'' one person with knowledge of the situation said, regarding the Phillies GM.
Boston has been adamant about not including top prospects Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr. in deals. But they have about 10 more top-line prospects, including pitchers Matt Barnes, Brandon Workman, Henry Owens, Allen Webster and Rubby De La Rosa and many others.
The Boston media seems to agree that Bogaerts isn't obtainable, at least not for Lee (via Sean McAdam).
The Phils would want infielder Xander Bogaerts included in a trade for Lee, and for the Red Sox, that's a complete non-starter. It seems the Sox also are completely unwilling to give up at least two others in their cache of top prospects: outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. and lefthander Henry Owens.
Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro told the MLB Network that he believes there is "very little chance" that Lee is traded.
