Cliff Lee To Yanks Nearly Done Deal (UPDATE)

ESPN's Buster Olney is reporting that a deal is near done and in agreement to send Cliff Lee to the Yankees in a deal setup around Yankees prospect Jesus Montero. The deal would mean somebody, most likely Javier Vazquez, will be dealt as well. Or, maybe the Yankees push Phil Hughes back into the bullpen to limit his innings. Yet that doesn't seem to make much sense.

In fact, I'm not sure if I can make much sense out of any of this. The Yankees pitching has been doing very well lately, they have the best record in baseball, and they haven't even hit their stride yet in terms of how good they can be, and if Cashman trades Montero it goes against every reason why he wouldn't deal for Johan Santana, CC Sabathia, and Roy Halladay.

So it's a little puzzling and I want to hear more about this trade, but that Queen from Cleveland is taking over ESPN so I just have to keep refreshing MLB trade rumors. And if Lee does in fact come to New York, well, we may just take a break from the blog until October when things really start to heat up.

UPDATE: It now appears that talks have stalled and that the deal looks to have died when Mariners became concerned about David Adams's health, the second baseman who the Yankees were offering in the Montero package. ESPN also reports it's possible another team has came in with a better offer. But right now, Lee is a Mariner.