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2 Months Pittsburgh Pirates Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports reports that Derrek Lee has turned down an offer from the Yankees and will remain retired. It's not a surprise after Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said earlier this week that he was "not optimistic" about the club signing the 37-year-old first baseman. If Lee's playing days are indeed over, he'll finish with a .281/.365/.495 career batting line, 331 homers and 1,078 RBI over 15 seasons. | 2 Months Pittsburgh Pirates Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said he's "not optimistic" the club will sign Derrek Lee. Cashman confirmed a report that he has reached out to the pseudo-retired first baseman, and on Monday he didn't rule out the possibility of signing him. It doesn't sound likely to happen, though. Lee batted .267 with 19 home runs over 113 games in 2011 for the Orioles and Pirates before taking 2012 off. | 2 Months Pittsburgh Pirates David Waldstein of the New York Times reports that the Yankees have tried to lure Derrek Lee out of retirement to play first base while Mark Teixeira (wrist) is out. Waldstein says there is "no deal pending," but Lee "was interested and the situation could always be revisited." Lee, 37, has never officially retired, but he chose not to play in 2012 after he was unable to find an opportunity that suited him. He batted .267 with 19 home runs over 113 games in 2011 for the Orioles and Pirates. It's an interesting thought, but it seems unlikely that Lee would be ready for the start of the season even if he signed soon, so by the time he's ready to play he might only be needed for a few weeks. It could be the Yanks preparing for the fact that Teixeira might eventually need surgery. | 11 Months Pittsburgh Pirates According to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com, the Dodgers are "lukewarm" to the idea of signing free agent first baseman Derrek Lee and want to explore other options first. Lee lives in Los Angeles and while the 36-year-old didn't sign with a team over the winter, he is said to be open to resuming his career. The Dodgers enter play Friday with a lousy .243/.302/.339 batting line and a .641 OPS out of the first base position this season, so it sounds like an obvious fit, but they are apparently considering options on the trade front first. | 11 Months Pittsburgh Pirates Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com reports that Derrek Lee is still open to playing this season in the "right opportunity." Rosenthal reported the same thing during spring training, and evidently it still holds true. Lee, 36, batted .267/.325/.446 with 19 home runs and 59 RBI last season for the Orioles and Pirates and will probably field some calls from interested parties, but it remains to be seen if it will be enough to lure him away from home. | 3/7/2012 Pittsburgh Pirates Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com reports that Derrek Lee is open to continuing his career if the "right opportunity" arises. In other words, his status hasn't changed much from a couple of months ago. Lee, 36, batted just .267 with a .771 OPS overall last season, but he hit .337/.398/.584 with seven home runs, 18 RBI and a .982 OPS over 113 plate appearances following a mid-season trade to the Pirates. Still, it's hard to imagine he'll get much of a guarantee at this point. If he can't return on his own terms, retirement appears to be a realistic possibility. | The League of Alternative Baseball Reality, or LABR for short, just completed the 19th draft in the history of the event (12 experts drafted in the American League, and 13 in the National League, this past weekend in Phoenix). I was graciously invited to the NL-only draft, thank you to Steve Gardner for that (you [...] | |
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