Yankees get taste of own medicine from Lee

The New York Yankees are getting a taste of their own medicine from Cliff Lee.

The Yankees knew they had all the leverage with Derek Jeter after he told them he would not field offers from other teams and they used that leverage to their full advantage. Now Cliff Lee has all the leverage, especially with news that the Boston Red Sox offered him a long-term deal, and he and his agent are using it to their full advantage.

Lee is taking his sweet time deciding which team he wants to play for over the next seven years of his baseball career. He used the multiple teams bidding for his services against each other, forcing the Yankees to go to seven years when they only wanted to offer five and the Texas Rangers, who Lee might actually still want to play for, to get as close as they possibly can to matching the New York offer. If he does ultimately decide to play for the Yankees, he will be handsomely compensated, making CC Sabathia money even though CC is a horse who is a few years younger than him.

But while Lee mulls his options, the Yankees and Brian Cashman are sweating because they desperately need Cliff Lee. It goes beyond the Yankees losing the offseason war with the Saux, who got two young superstars in less than a week. Losing Lee (combined with an Andy Pettitte retirement) makes you question whether the Yankees can truly compete in the American League East next year with Boston's revamped power-and-speed lineup and the Tampa Bay Rays’ young pitching.

After weeks of making Jeter seem like an ungrateful athlete while they held the upper hand, the Yankees are the ones sitting around nervously waiting for the phone to ring.

Karma is a bitch, isn't it?

Thanks to aturkus via Wikipedia for the photo.