Report: Trade talks between Phillies, Rangers on Cliff Lee have "all but ended"

The latest on the Cliff Lee saga:

Jayson Stark now hearing from a source that PHI's Lee talks with TEX have all but ended. Complicated, multi-layered, better for offseason.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 30, 2012

So this is Olney tweeting about what Jayson Stark has heard from a source. Still, this makes sense...the idea that the Rangers and the Phillies would be able to put together a deal for Cliff Lee, in the hours leading up to the trade deadline, given the Phillies' demands and the Rangers' lack of interest in absorbing all of Lee's contract, seemed far-fetched from the outset.

It would be interesting to see, though, if the Rangers and Phillies re-visit this either in August or in the offseason. If the Rangers were to decide, for example, that they were not going to use Michael Young as an everyday player in 2013, he might waive his no-trade clause to go to Philadelphia to play third base (if the Phillies were interested in using him in that role). And that would allow the Rangers to dump Young's remaining $16 million for 2013 on the Phillies, offsetting some of the cash due to Lee, which might then make them more interested in parting with prospects.