Curry: Yanks not getting Lee

Update by Ben (4:20 p.m.): According to Jack Curry of the YES Network, the Yankees will not be getting Cliff Lee. Despite earlier rumors to the contrary, talks hit a snag this afternoon over the identity of a few prospects involved in the trade, and the Texas Rangers have jumped back in. “Sometimes, these things just don’t get done,” he said.

Sweeny Murti reports that the Yanks thought they had a deal. The team was prepared to deal Jesus Montero, David Adams and Zack McAllister for Lee, but Seattle wanted to shop the lefty ace to other teams as well. If the Yanks are out of the running, I can’t imagine GM Brian Cashman is pleased with this turn of events. Good luck to Jack Zduriencik in his search for a better prospect than Jesus Montero. If the Rangers are willing to part with Justin Smoak, so be it.

To recap the afternoon: A short while ago, we heard via Joel Sherman, the Mariners appear to be backing away from the reportedly imminent Cliff Lee trade, and that the Yankees are no longer in the running for the southpaw. Seattle apparently had concerns about David Adams’ injured ankle while another club jumped into the bidding. Buster Olney says they have concerns about the “identity” of the second player, and it seemed as if the deal would survive without Adams.

A short while later, Olney, who seems to be co-owning this story with Sherman right now, had an update: The Yanks wanted to “strike aggressively, strike quickly, and get a resolution to this,” but the Mariners appear to be shopping for alternatives. The Rangers, hamstrung a bit by their financial troubles, says Sherman, are still “working hard” to land Lee.

We then learned that Bob Kalpisch’s Yankee sources believe the Lee-for-Montero deal to be dead. Meanwhile, Mark Feinsand’s sources said the Yanks are still in it but that no deal is done yet. Either way, it sounds as though the Yanks won’t have to face Lee tonight.