When it looked like a Cliff Lee-to-New York deal was just about complete, the baseball world was ready to let out a collective groan. "The Yankees did it again." Instead, the Texas Rangers swooped in and grabbed Lee, trading for the All-Star pitcher on Friday in a six-player deal. Acquiring one of baseball's best pitchers via trade never comes cheap, and this time was no exception, as the Rangers had to pony up rookie slugger Justin Smoak to land Lee.

Fantasy baseball owners are likely bemoaning the deal on both sides. Lee was having an outstanding year in Seattle, pitching home games in a park that has always been very forgiving for pitchers. Smoak was set up to spend the next six years (or more) in a great hitting environment and a great lineup in Texas. Now, Lee heads to a hitters' park while Smoak ships off to a pitchers' park. Should you trade for either of these guys, or get rid of them in a hurry?

First off, Lee doesn't require a "sky is falling" mentality just cause he's moved to a worse park. He's in the middle of an amazing season, having struck out 89 batters in 103.2 innings while walking six guys. Yes, you read that correctly -- six! He does have an excellent 2.47 ERA and 0.95 WHIP at home, but he also has a 2.24 ERA and 0.94 WHIP on the road. His dominance clearly isn't due to the park he calls home. With his elite stuff on the mound, Lee will be fine in Texas, just as he would have been fine in New York or any other stadium. If you can take advantage of a Lee owner's panic at the move to Arlington, do it immediately.

The best thing you can say about Smoak is that he's done just as much damage on the road this year as he has at home. Unfortunately, that's about all you can say. Smoak's likely to hit for less power playing half his games in Seattle than he would have in Texas. Also, he'll have to deal with a playing time crunch between him, Russell Branyan and Casey Kotchman. That could have spelled doom for Smoak's fantasy season, as he's hitting just .139/.207/.266 against lefties and would be prime for a platoon. Lucky for him, Branyan and Kotchman are both lefties and neither are doing anything against left-handers themselves.

Of course, the Mariners could decide to send Smoak down to the minor leagues while Branyan plays out his contract. If that happens, Smoak can obviously be dumped in fantasy leagues. Even if it doesn't happen, he shouldn't be in the lineup in normal one-1B, no-CI leagues, and his value as a corner infielder in other leagues has dropped. For re-draft leagues, I'd cross my fingers that he has a great first week after the All-Star Break, then I'd deal him away for any kind of value. Dynasty leaguers with Smoak (myself among them) have a tough decision ahead. I think he has enough talent to eventually be successful, so I'd hang on to the youngster for now and see how he progresses. Obviously, Lee should be grasped dearly to the chest of his fantasy owners, Texas Ranger or no.