Texas Rangers rumors: Cliff Lee, the pitcher that we just can't quit, is a free agent, and T.R. Sullivan tweets that the Rangers are "intrigued" by Lee, who is apparently drawing interest from numerous teams.
Cliff Lee, of course, was acquired by the Rangers in the magical summer of 2010, beat the Tampa Bay Rays twice in the ALDS when the Rangers won their first ever playoff series, and helped get the team to the World Series against the San Francisco Giants. Texas worked hard to try to re-sign him as a free agent after the season, but he instead went to Philadelphia, where he had three terrific seasons from 2011-13, an injury-plagued 2014 season, and a 2015 season where he missed the entire year due to a torn flexor tendon in his elbow (the same injury that ended Colby Lewis's 2012 season).
The Rangers are looking for rotation depth, and Jon Daniels has previously said that the team wants someone they can count on for 30 starts in 2016 -- the 37 year old Lee, coming off a missed season, wouldn't seem to fit that category. It also seems unlikely the Rangers would sign both Lee and someone like Colby Lewis, given their budgetary constraints.
Still...it sounds like there's at least interest there. And what would a hot stove season be without Cliff Lee to Texas talk?