After breaking a bone in his right shoulder during a freak play at home plate during a loss to the Tigers on Tuesday, Rangers’ outfielder Josh Hamilton made some interesting comments to the media.

“It was just a stupid play,” Hamilton said and added “I listened to my third-base coach. That’s a little too aggressive. The whole time I was watching the play I was listening. (He said),’Nobody’s at home, nobody’s at home.’ I was like, ‘Dude, I don’t want to do this. Something’s going to happen.’ “

Hamilton’s comment could be taken a couple of different ways. He could be referring to his decision to listen to Anderson’s urging and how it was stupid of him diving headfirst. Therefore, he’s not calling Anderson out as much as he’s just saying it was a “stupid” play in general in that he should have either stayed or found a different way to slide.

On the flip side, maybe he is calling Anderson out in that the third base coach should have never urged him to run. But to that I would say: Hey Josh, you didn’t have to go. Base coaches are essentially another pair of eyes helping players out. Just because my financial investor tells me to invest all of my money in this “can’t lose” proposition, it doesn’t mean I’ll take his advice. If Hamilton thought it was a bad idea to run, he should have stayed at third base.

But regardless of whether or not Hamilton was or wasn’t calling Anderson out, the bottom line is that it was a freak play. Injuries happen in sports and there was no way Hamilton, Anderson or anyone else could have predicted what happened in that situation. It was just an unlucky ordeal.

I also think Hamilton deserves a break here. He just found out that he would be out for the next eight weeks and obviously he’s frustrated. Given his injury history, he probably has a sense of “here we go again” and he’s no doubt upset that he won’t be able to play. He shouldn’t be calling coaches out (if that was what he was doing), but let’s cut him some slack.

Given Chase Utley’s knee injury, don’t rule out the possibility that the Phillies could make a move for the disgruntled Michael Young, whom the Rangers are still trying to trade.

According to Yahoo Sports! Tim Brown, the Rangers are trying their best to move Young and are “willing to eat about half” of the $48 million that still remains on the infielder’s contract. Brown tweets that Texas is still asking for top-end prospects, but nobody is biting.

Meanwhile, the Phillies have a huge concern on their hands with Utley. There’s a chance that the second baseman will be sidelined for a lengthy period of time, maybe even the season. Seeing as how Jimmy Rollins hasn’t been the picture of perfect health himself over the last couple of years, scooping up a six-time All-Star and a career .300-hitter like Young wouldn’t be a bad move. If the Rangers were willing to eat half of his contract then hey, even better.

In the end, it doesn’t look like Texas will get what it wants for Young and if his situation is going to be a distraction throughout the year, then there’s no sense hanging onto him. I think it was wise of Nolan Ryan and Co. to be patient this spring and let the situation develop. But we’re about a week and a half away from Opening Day and it might be time to press teams in order to see what they’d be willing to give up. Calling someone like the Phillies who could be entering panic mode would be a good start.

On June 16, 2010, Michael Young hit a two-out ground ball up the middle off Marlins’ pitcher Jay Buente to collect his 1,748th hit of his career. With that base-knock, he passed Ivan Rodriguez for first place on the all-time Rangers’ career hit list.

If he continues to play in Texas, he would probably need half a season to become the all-time games played leader in franchise history. But that’s only “if” Young continues to play in Texas.

Young is furious with the Rangers over what he perceives as being “misled and manipulated” by the club. We can only speculate as to why he feels that way, but chances are he’s feeling disrespected because the club is saying one thing and doing another. The Rangers publicly maintain that they want Young to be their primary DH and play multiple positions as a super utility player. But for the past month, they’ve flirted with other DH options like Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez (both of which have signed with other clubs).

If the Rangers want Young to DH, why would they speak with those other candidates? It’s hard to blame Young for feeling shunned. He moved to third (albeit begrudgingly at first) to make room for Elvis Andrus in 2009 and is now being replaced with the signing of free agent Adrian Beltre. Young is overpaid at $16 million a year, but given what he’s done for the Rangers over the past decade, he deserves the club’s respect.

Of course, that’s not the point is it? The point is that he’s making $16 million, plays shoddy defense and the Rangers feel like they can replace him in the lineup with cheaper options. Sports aren’t usually about respect. Young isn’t worth what the Rangers are paying him, so they’re taking the necessary steps to replace him. Sure, they’re publicly maintaining that they still need him, but actions speak louder than words. I can tell my girlfriend that she’s the only one I want to be with but if I turn around and flirt with three other women at the bar, how is she supposed to feel?

Nobody should blame Young for feeling the way he does, especially considering he helped them reach their first World Series last year. Just because he’s overpaid doesn’t mean he hasn’t earned the club’s respect. If the Rangers told Young that he would be their DH, then that should have been the end of it. Thome and Ramirez (two players who would have been difficult to keep on the bench and out of the DH spot) should have never been in the discussion.

But the Rangers are also trying to do what’s best for them in the long run, which is shedding Young’s contract. After all, they’re running a business you know.

As if it were right out of the pages of the Yankees’ playbook on how to sign a free agent, the Phillies stole Cliff Lee right from under the Bombers’ noses.

Actually, “stole” isn’t the right word. That would indicate that Lee was once the Yankees’ property, which he wasn’t. He was never a Yankee and thanks to the Phillies’ aggressiveness, he never will be either.

Lee left nearly $50 million of New York’s money on the table to go back to a place where he felt comfortable and had huge success. He’ll join a rotation that already features Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels, which is mind-blowing to say the least. Philadelphia opponents will face ace-like stuff nearly everyday when they take on the Phillies. The only person associated with the National League that will sleep easy this week after Philadelphia made this move is Giants’ outfielder Cody Ross, who hit all four of the Phils’ pitchers like a piñata in last year’s postseason.

For those scoring at home, here are the obvious winners and losers of this deal.

Winners:

Phillies. They land an ace when they already had a Cy Young-winning ace in the rotation. With all due respect to Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain, the Halladay-Lee pairing is the best 1-2 punch in all of baseball and the Phillies immediately become the team to beat again in the NL. Their offense was inconsistent last year but whether pundits believe it’ll round back into ’09 form or not, the Fightin’ Phils are the favorites to win the World Series next year.

Lee. It’s a little surprising that he spurned the Rangers to return to the Phillies, seeing as how Philadelphia traded him so that it could land Halladay last winter. But obviously Lee was comfortable in Philadelphia and wanted to head back to the NL, where he absolutely dominated in the second half of ’09 (and postseason). In the end, he gets the long-term deal that he had been seeking, a ton of money ($120 million to be exact) and the opportunity to stick it to New York after its fans treated his wife poorly in the stands at Yankee Stadium last year. (Not that that was a deciding factor in him spurning the Yankees but it had to have crossed his mind.)

Losers:

Yankees. They’re used to being the ones that swoop in at the last second, put an offer on the table that the free agent can’t refuse and then leave those in the bidding war gasping for air. Now they’re at the receiving end of a big F-you and it has to be devastating. They threw a ton of money at Lee and in the end, they still couldn’t land him. This was a huge blow in the post-George Steinbrenner era and while some Yankee fans will say that they didn’t want their club to sign a 32-year-old to a long-term deal, what is New York going to do for pitching? Maybe the Yankees will be better off in the long run for missing out on Lee, but as of right now they’re in a world of hurt.

Rangers. While everyone wanted to see the Yankees burned, nobody wanted the Rangers to become victims. They just lost their ace, who turned down the Yankees’ money to return to a place that was comfortable to him – only it wasn’t Texas. Nolan Ryan can’t be pleased with the outcome (although at least he didn’t wind up with the Yankees) and now he too must revert to his backup plan for pitching (whatever that is). Just months after losing the World Series, Ryan and Co. take yet another huge blow.

The Yankees better land Cliff Lee or else they could be in a world of hurt next season.

Offensively, they’ll continue to be dangerous. Thanks to Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson, Derek Jeter, Nick Swisher and Jorge Posada, they won’t have to worry about scoring runs again next season (although it’s important to note that Jeter is coming off a career-low year and Posada struggled at the dish as well.)

But their offense wasn’t the reason they fell short of reaching the World Series: their pitching was. That’s why they set out this offseason to acquire Lee, but there’s no guarantee that they’ll be able to land him with the Rangers trying desperately to retain him.

After Jayson Werth and Carl Crawford each received seven-year contracts, the Yankees had no choice but to add another year to their offer for Lee. They wanted to stay at six years, but the Rangers have amped things up and are reportedly sending a contingent to Arkansas on Thursday in order to get Lee to re-sign. The Yankees had no choice but to take an at-all-costs approach in signing the 32-year-old ace.

Chances are Texas won’t be able to match New York’s final number, which is good for the Yankees. But Lee enjoyed playing with the Rangers last year and spoke after the World Series as though he was coming back. If Texas can get close to the Yankees’ asking price, then Lee may re-sign with the Rangers in order to stay in familiar surroundings.

That would be devastating for the Yankees, who now are suddenly looking up at the Red Sox in the AL East. Just this past week, Boston traded for slugger Adrian Gonzalez and signed Crawford to a whopping $142 million deal. Instantly the Red Sox have added power, speed and defense to their roster, all while the Yankees have impatiently waited for Lee’s answer. If they can’t sign Lee and they go into next year having to rely on A.J. Burnett being one of their top arms, the Bombers are in trouble.

They may want to add on an eighth year if that’s what Lee wants.

The bidding war between the Yankees and Rangers over Cliff Lee is about to begin. According to the New York Post, the Rangers are prepared to make an official five-year offer to Lee, but the Yankees are ready to go as high as $23 million annually to secure the lefty’s services.

But for a moment, let’s assume that Lee wants to return to the Rangers. Let’s assume that the millions of dollars that the Rangers are offering are more than enough to by-pass the trillions of dollars that the Yankees are willing to fork over.

What is the Yankees’ fallback plan?

The postseason proved last year that the Bombers need pitching. Who knows what kind of production they’ll get from A.J. Burnett next year and it appears as though Andy Pettitte is set to retire. CC Sabathia and Phil Hughes aren’t going to cut it by themselves.

So what about Zack Greinke? The Royals seem ready to trade the righty in order to restock their farm system and the 27-year-old won the Cy Young two years ago. Up until recently he wasn’t willing to waive his no-trade clause to play for a big-market team (which includes the Yankees, obviously). He’s had anxiety problems in the past and we’ve seen the Big Apple chew up and spit out pitchers like Javier Vazquez and Jeff Weaver before.

But a source told Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports that Greinke is now open to moving to a big-market club. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s ready to take on New York, but if the Yankees miss out on Lee you can bet they’ll at least pick up the phone and see what it would take to land the right hander. He’s coming off a bad year but he has a 3.82 career ERA and a 1.26 WHIP, not to mention he’s only 27. (Compared to Lee, who is 32.)

The winter meetings get kicked off next week, so it’ll be interesting to see how the Cliff Lee situation plays out. It’ll be even more interesting to see what the Yankees do if Lee decides to return to Texas.

Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports reports that the Yankees have offered free agent Cliff Lee a six-year deal worth around $140 million. If C.C. Sabathia’s contract in December of 2008 can be used in comparison, then Brown’s figures sound right.

The Yankees signed Sabathia to a seven-year, $161 million contract in ’08. While Sabathia had two more years added onto his contract, he was also four years younger than Lee at the time of the deal. If Lee signs with the Bombers, that would mean the Yankees would be paying their top two pitchers roughly $46 million per year.

Wowzers.

That said, the Rangers are expected to match the Yankees’ offers, at least initially. But it’s hard to imagine that a team that had to be saved by Major League Baseball (financially, that is) would be able to come up with that kind of money for one player. At some point, the Rangers will have to bow out and hope that Lee bypasses more money for the opportunity to return to Texas.

The Nationals are also reportedly interested in Lee and there are sure to be other suitors as well. But as I’ve written for the past couple of months, no team will be able to match what the Yankees offer. Thus, one would think that it’ll be between the Yankees and Rangers in the end. Why would he go anywhere else? He can either cash in a big payday and have an opportunity to win a ring every year, or take less and hope that the Rangers’ run in 2010 was no fluke.

Hindsight always rears its perfect head when a deciding moment in a sporting event takes place. A player always should have done something differently when his team loses.

In the case of Cliff Lee, he should have listened to his catcher Bengie Molina in the seventh inning on Monday night with Edgar Renteria at the plate.

Molina played nearly as many games with the Giants this season as he did with the Rangers. He knows the Giants’ hitters and their tendencies. He knows Renteria is a smart hitter and he knew his former teammate was hot. He also knew that Aaron Rowand had been picking splinters out of his ass for most of the season and was starting in only his third game since early September.

That’s why Molina wanted to pitch around Renteria in the top of the seventh with runners on second and third and go after Rowand. But it’s not in Lee’s nature to walk anybody and he certainly wasn’t going to walk Renteria when all he needed was one more out to end the inning.

So Lee fell behind Renteria 2-0 while missing with his cutter and changeup. Molina, knowing that pitching around Renteria was the only solution at that point, called for a cutter outside. Lee threw the cutter, but he drifted into the zone and Renteria crushed the mistake to put the Giants up 3-0.

With the way Tim Lincecum was pitching, three runs may have well been 30. Everyone in the ballpark got the sense that the game was over and even after Nelson Cruz cut the Giants’ lead to 3-1 in the Rangers’ half of the seventh, the game was still San Francisco’s to win.

Part of what makes Lee so good is that he throws strikes. He attacks hitters – all hitters. He knows that with his control, he’s going to get the best of most batters. But in that situation, he was better off listening to Molina.

Granted, who’s to say that Rowand wouldn’t have hit a grand slam in his at bat? Depending on the situation, a single to the outfield could have scored two runs so maybe Lee and the Rangers were just destined for failure.

But Lee never put himself in position to get Rowand out in that key situation. He stayed true to himself and it would up costing him and the Rangers in the end.

Following another heartbreaking loss to the Giants in Game 5 of the World Series, Cliff Lee said that he would love to return to the Rangers in 2011.

“I don’t know if I’m going to be a part of it,” Lee admitted. “I’d love to be a part of it, but so many things can happen.”

Lee used a lot of “we” when talking about the Rangers after the game. It appears that Texas has stolen a piece of his heart and he truly enjoys being a part of the Rangers organization.

That said, money talks. This guy has been traded three times and has been a part of four different teams in the past two years and I’m sure he’d love to finally settle down with his family in one spot. The Rangers may be the frontrunners for his services, but they’re going to have come up with a decent offer. They’re not going to outbid the Yankees – nobody does. But they need to at least be in the same ballpark so Lee can feel appreciated. The Giants tuned him up twice, but he’s one of the best pitchers in the game and should be paid as such.

If the Rangers can keep Lee, they immediately become the favorites to win the American League next year. The Yankees showed their age in the postseason and while the Rays are young and powerful, they’re about to lose one of their most productive players in Carl Crawford (who is sure to leave via free agency this winter). Texas has a great offensive core in Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz, Ian Kinsler, Elvis Andrus, Michael Young and even though he looked horrendous in the World Series, Vladimir Guerrero.

Their pitching staff thanks to C.J. Wilson, Colby Lewis, Tommy Hunter and relievers Neftali Feliz and Alexi Ogando is solid as well, but it’ll look rather ordinary without Cliff Lee. Nolan Ryan needs to do everything he can to bring Lee back so the Rangers can take another run at things next year.

Break out your checkbook, Rangers.

Following their 3-1 win in Game 5 of the World Series on Monday night, somewhere in this country someone started writing about how the 2010 San Francisco Giants were a team of destiny this postseason.

But their status as 2010 World Series Champions has nothing to do with destiny. They were just the better team.

In the NLCS, people expected the Giants to lose to the Phillies, who had the better offense, the better pitching, more experience, etc. But when the Giants knocked off the defending NL champs to reach the World Series, people expected them to succumb to the mighty Rangers, who had the better offense, a pitcher in Cliff Lee who never loses in the postseason, etc.

But it was the Giants who came up with the clutch hits. It was the Giants’ Bruce Bochy who outmanaged the Rangers’ Ron Washington. It was the Giants’ pitching staff that turned in one of the most dazzling performances that we’ll ever seen in a Fall Classic.

A team of destiny? The Giants were just flat out better. The Rangers, with all their power and with all their Cliff Lee, were absolutely dominated in four of five games. And that’s a good Rangers team, mind you. They didn’t get to the World Series by accident and something tells me that this won’t be this group’s last crack at a championship. They’re also a classy bunch from their manager (who heaped tons of praise on the Giants in his post-game presser), down to the grounds crew that let San Francisco fans celebrate on the field hours after the game.

But back to the Giants. It was rather humorous to listen to people use the term “lucky” when it came to this club in the postseason. Do you know what they had to do in order to get to this point? First off, they had to beat Mat Latos and the Padres on the final day of the regular season to clinch a playoff berth. There’s nothing lucky about winning 92 games, I don’t care if San Diego choked over the final two months or not.

There’s also nothing lucky about beating Derek Lowe (twice), Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels, C.J. Wilson and Cliff Lee not once, but twice, including once with the series on the line.

Think about that for a second. The Giants, with their cast of misfits, went through some of the best pitchers from this decade in order to win a World Series. Luck had nothing to do with that. Luck also had nothing to do with this team being able to clinch every series on the road (Game 4 at Atlanta, Game 6 at Philadelphia, Game 5 at Texas).

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