Cliff Lee (Getty Images)
Somewhere in the early morning of July 9, the AL season very well may have been determined.
In the reading of second base prospect David Adams’ X-rays. In the Rangers blinking and including Justin Smoak in a package for Seattle’s Cliff Lee. In the Yankees’ refusal to bend further and include either Ivan Nova or Eduardo Nunez alongside Jesus Montero.
In that conglomeration of events, Lee became a Ranger rather than a Yankee.
And you can extrapolate away to your hearts’ content. Maybe Texas still wins the watered-down AL West. But do they really win a playoff series for the first time ever without Lee’s genius? With Lee, the Yankees probably win the AL East and cakewalk through the AL playoffs behind the combination of Lee and CC Sabathia backed by Andy Pettitte and Phil Hughes (goodbye A.J. Burnett playoff stories).
Instead, the Mariners sent Lee to the Rangers, and now the Yankees must beat the man who didn’t join them to return to the World Series.
“So be it,” general manager Brian Cashman said. “If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. We will find out in [the ALCS] who has the best team. I have no regrets. I am comfortable with not [completing the trade]. In time we will learn if that was the right thing to do.”
In actuality, once Smoak was put into the offer by Texas, it is possible the Yankees never had a second chance on Lee. But for a few tantalizing hours as July 8 turned to
July 9, the Yankees believed “we had him,” in Cashman’s words. “We had a deal in principle pending physicals.”
The Mariners had landed Lee from the Phillies in the offseason, believing that teaming the lefty with Felix Hernandez made them championship contenders. But by June, Seattle was the majors’ most disappointing team and there were feelers out for Lee. By the beginning of July, Rangers GM Jon Daniels said by phone yesterday, “There were no more hypotheticals, Jack was talking about ‘when he trades Cliff.’ ”
Lee was scheduled to face the Yankees on July 9 at Safeco Field, but it became obvious in the
48 hours beforehand that Seattle would not let that occur. Zduriencik said by phone that was because he wanted to maximize Lee’s value with extra starts to the obtaining team and minimize the injury risk before he could be dealt. But the speed to move Lee led to messiness, involving prospects in the packages and ultimately the Mariners’ tactics.
Around 9 p.m. Eastern Time on July 8, Seattle agreed with the Yankeees to accept Montero, Adams and righty Zach McAllister for Lee, and the sides swapped medical info. Around 3 a.m. Zduriencik called Cashman to say Seattle team doctors were concerned about Adams’ right ankle. This confused the Yankees. Adams had been out since injuring his ankle sliding May 23, yet the Mariners kept insisting he had to be included and the Yankees only relented that night.
Seattle’s concerns proved valid, as subsequent tests weeks later revealed a fracture and not a sprain for Adams.
Over the next several hours Seattle asked the Yankees to replace Adams. The Yankees offered touted righty Adam Warren. The Mariners said either Nova or Nunez must be the replacement, which was their initial position a week earlier. Cashman refused, stating the Yankees would not yield significantly more to get Lee for half a season than Philadelphia had given Cleveland to obtain Lee for a season and a half or Seattle had given Philadelphia to get Lee for a season.
Also, the Yankees came to believe Seattle had not shut down conversations with Texas. There are no written rules, but general protocol is that once a deal in principle is reached, then the trading teams go silent with other clubs.
“A deal is not final until it is final. Besides that, I will not rehash private conversations from trade discussions,” Zduriencik said.
“They had a huge asset and a major decision,” Cashman said, “and I have no problems with what they did.”
With the Yankees’ pursuit public, Texas caved and finally included Smoak about 11 a.m. July 9. The switch-hitting first baseman was Seattle’s priority. So maybe a Montero/Nova or Nunez deal would not have sufficed anyway. But the Yankees will never know because Cashman refused to make that offer.
Like with Adams, Seattle coveted Rangers pitching prospect Josh Lueke as a secondary piece. Not long after the deal was consummated, it was revealed Lueke had faced rape and sodomy charges in 2009, pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of false imprisonment with violence, and spent 42 days in jail. The uproar, among other things, cost Mariners scouting director Carmen Fusco his job.
For Texas, however, the deal has been heaven. Lee improved to 6-0 with a 1.44 ERA in his postseason career in pitching the Rangers to the ALCS. Imagine the Yankees with that piece — and how daunting the Rangers are because they have it.
“I offered a significant package,” Cashman said. “You wrestle with these decisions and you do what you think is best. Ultimately, he is a Texas Ranger.”
joel.sherman@nypost.com