New York Yankees president calls Rangers CEO ‘delusional’

Texas Rangers chief executive officer Chuck Greenberg has drawn the ire of New York Yankees president Randy Levine again.

Levine called Greenberg “delusional” in reference to Greenberg’s comments during a question-and-answer session at the recent Rangers Fan Fest in Arlington.

Greenberg told fans that he thought Cliff Lee would have signed with the Yankees if the Rangers hadn’t made a third trip to Arkansas to visit the left-handed pitcher. Greenberg said that last visit kept Lee away from the Yankees long enough for the veteran pitcher to reconsider his options. Shortly after, Lee ended up signing with the Philadelphia Phillies, a team he had pitched for previously.

“I think Chuck is delusional,” Levine was quoted as saying Friday in various New York media reports. “He’s been in the game for a few minutes and yet he thinks he knows what everyone’s thinking. I think he should let Cliff Lee speak for himself.”

“If (Greenberg) really wants to impress us,” Levine told the New York Daily News, “then he can get the Rangers off of welfare and show how they can be revenue-sharing payors, rather than recipients for three years in a row, without financing from Major League Baseball. That would be something.”

The Rangers, with a payroll half the size of the Yankees’, filed for bankruptcy last summer. Greenberg was part of an ownership group that bought the team for $593 million in August. MLB had helped finance the team during the protracted sale process.

Greenberg declined to comment on Levine’s remarks.

This isn’t the first time the Yankees have become upset with the new Rangers CEO. Greenberg called out Yankees fans for their behavior during the American League Championship Series, calling them “an embarrassment.” Greenberg quickly apologized publicly and reportedly in private calls to Yankees management.

Taking shots at the Rangers has become a recent trend. Lance Berkman, who said he considered signing with the Rangers in the offseason, went on a Houston radio show Thursday morning and said the Rangers were going to be “an average team” without Lee.