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Cliff Lee Rumors: Sunday

If Nolan Ryan is right in believing that Cliff Lee will weigh his options this weekend and come to a decision Monday, we'll have to wait at least another day before hearing anything concrete on Lee. In the meantime, here are the rumblings on the left-hander since yesterday....

• The Nationals are officially out on Lee, reports MLB.com's Bill Ladson.
• Christian Red of The New York Daily News hears from a source that the Lee situation "should get resolved early this week."
• SI's Jon Heyman tweets that there are "strong indications" of a third team being involved in the Lee discussions, but conventional wisdom still says it's between the Rangers and Yankees.
• Yankees GM Brian Cashman tells Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger that "nothing has happened as of yet" regarding Lee's decision.
• Sherman's colleague, George A. King III writes that the Yankees will not increase their offer to Lee again. The Yankees have extended three offers, the longest of which is believed to be in the seven-year, $160MM range.
• Joel Sherman of the New York Post opines that Lee and agent Darek Braunecker have "used time expertly" to discomfort the Yankees and force them into upping their offer one last time prior to sealing the deal (Twitter link).
• We heard on Saturday that some Yankees officials were expressing "a bit of skepticism" about the team's chances of landing Lee. ESPN.com's Buster Olney says the same thing today in his Insider-only blog. According to Olney, one Yankee exec told another team's GM that he figures the odds of New York signing Lee are about 50-50.
• Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal explains how Texas' tax rates mean the Rangers could effectively match the Yankees' offer without actually matching it. Ken Belson of the New York Times made a similar observation earlier this weekend.
• Rangers manager Ron Washington thinks Lee will be back in Texas in 2011, as Tom Spousta of the Dallas Morning News writes.
• Ken Davidoff of Newsday examines some of the oft-repeated theories about Lee's decision, attempting to determine which ones are legitimate.

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