Beckett's Deal Could Influence Lee

[BAdkins1121]

ESPN - The four-year contract extension that the Red Sox gave Josh Beckett earlier this week could influence future negotiations for pitcher Cliff Lee.

Boston gave Beckett a four-year, $68 million extension.

Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein specifically mentioned Lee when discussing the agreement that was officially announced on Monday.

"If you look at free agency in the next couple of years, there's maybe one guy [Cliff Lee]. That depends on how you want to define true top-of-the-rotation starter types, but there's maybe one guy in the next couple of years," Epstein in reference to top-level pitchers that could soon hit the market.

Read more: RealGM Baseball: Wiretap Archives: Beckett's Deal Could Influence Lee

[TNA110990]

wonder if this will drive Lee up or down

[haris23]

Hmmm. I think Lee deserves a little more money than Beckett.

[TNA110990]

I think so too but I think teams around gonna look at it and say that Beckett only got 68M over 4 years and Lee is gonna be what? 31? so even if he got a five year deal I'd be surprised to see it be more that 90M and at that price it's a steal for what he can give u.

[haris23]

^very true TNA. very true.