Clearly in a position to make their first postseason appearance in 11 years, the Texas Rangers acquired lefty ace Cliff Lee from Seattle on Friday in a trade for Justin Smoak, Blake Beavan and two other minor league prospects. Texas also received reliever Mark Lowe and cash considerations.
I first heard about the deal when I was pulling up to work on Friday around 4:30 p.m. A text message that read "Damn, gave up Smoak?" alerted me of the trade. The first thought that entered my mind was that we traded for Lee.
As a Rangers fan, I have to admit I was initially skeptical of the deal.
Texas was on pace — without Lee — to win 100 games for the first time in team history this season. The Rangers (50-36) are in this position in large part because of the youth movement that has completely reshaped the philosophy of the franchise the past three years.
It's the anti-Yankees way of looking at the big picture. Farm system over free agents.
From the day the Rangers traded Mark Teixeira in the middle of the 2007 season, I was onboard with this philosophy. Smaller market teams like the Athletics and Twins did it, and they had successful seasons that culminated in playoff runs. Surely, the Rangers could do this, too.
The past two seasons, Baseball America has ranked the Texas farm system No. 1 in all of baseball.
Last season, we saw shades of the youth movement starting to take effect in a promising 87-75 season (second place, AL West).
This year, the richness of the farm system and the philosophy of building a long-term winner from within has been strikingly evident. The Rangers have a 4.5-game lead on the Angels in the AL West. Guys like Elvis Andrus, Neftali Feliz and Tommy Hunter (the first two of whom are all-stars this season) are guys who, just two seasons ago, were players in the farm system.
It's all part of the philosophy implemented by general manger Jon Daniels.
That's why when the news on Lee broke, I was nervous and somewhat skeptical. The organization had spent the better part of three years doing its best adaptation of 'Extreme Makeover: Farm System Edition.' Before the Teixeira deal, the Texas farm system was nothing special. Three years later, it's the best in baseball. To give up potentially critical long-term pieces for a potential four-month rental (Lee is a free agent after the 2010 season) was a little daunting.
The more I thought about the deal, however, the more I began to really come around to it.
I slept on it last night, woke up this morning and felt pretty great about the trade. I'll do my best to break down my reasons for optimism:
1. The farm system in still in tact.
Martin Perez, Tanner Scheppers, Derek Holland and Alexi Ogando, four of our top pitching prospects, are still with the club. The loss of Beavan was tough, but his ceiling wasn't as high as the four guys I just listed. The cupboard on the farm is far from bare.
2. It is, after all, Cliff Lee, who's on the short list of the best pitchers in the game.
How's this for dominant? Lee has 89 strikeouts against a ridiculous six walks this season, to go along with an 8-3 record, a 2.34 earned-run average and a minuscule 0.95 WHIP.
Six walks. That's absurd. He has nearly as many complete games this season (four) as total walks. It's silly.
3. The Rangers have a true ace for the rest of 2010.
The Rangers probably could have made the playoffs without Lee. The kicker? The Rangers probably could not get out of the first round of the playoffs without Lee.
This move instantly makes the Rangers one of the best teams in baseball. A playoff rotation of Lee, Colby Lewis, C.J. Wilson and Tommy Hunter sounds fantastic. The inexperience of the latter three likely wouldn't have been sufficient for a deep playoff run this year. Lee has that experience. He pitched in the World Series last season for Philadelphia. The eventual-champion Yankees lost two games in last season's World Series. Both of those losses were against Lee.
4. In this case, there's nothing wrong with living in the present and chasing a deep playoff run.
Yes, I deeply value our farm system. Yes, I want to be able to dip into Oklahoma City, Frisco and Bakersfield for the foreseeable future. We'll still be able to.
We've been building the farm system with more talent than ever before in team history for the past three years, but we've missed the playoffs for the past 11 years. This race for the AL West crown is getting serious. It's the best chance Texas has had to win the West since 1999.
Even if the Rangers don't re-sign Lee after this season, I'd sacrifice the trade we made with Seattle for a deep playoff run. Imagining the Rangers playing deep into October is overwhelmingly exciting. Lee gives the team that chance.
Plus, having a stacked farm system comes with the distinct luxury of being able to pursue high-end players when necessary to make a deep playoff run. Smoak and Beavan are no longer Rangers, but the farm is still stacked, thanks to the aforementioned philosophy of Daniels these past three years.
And who knows? Maybe this team ownership mess works out sooner rather than later. Maybe the Rangers have more financial flexibility than we might think next offseason. And maybe, just maybe Lee, a native of nearby Benton, Ark., is able to sign a long-term deal with Texas.
The bottom line?
Right now, the Rangers are in position to win the division with an offense that can stack up against the best in the game. Texas might have the best lineup, one through six, in team history. And now, the team has a legitimate ace, something it has not had since Nolan Ryan. FYI, the last time Ryan pitched like an ace was 1991. That's 19 years ago.
Yes, there will be added pressure. But the time to see just how far this team has come in the past three years is now. And honestly, I couldn't have hand-picked a guy I'd want more at the top of the rotation than Lee.
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