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Lee missed a handful of spring games with an injured right quadriceps, so he turned down the invite. "They started calling me. They needed a first baseman. But I couldn't go, not being 100 percent," the Cubs first baseman said. "I thought it was disrespectful, to be truthful. They knew I wasn't playing here [in camp]. How do they expect me to get off the trainer's table and start playing there?" At the same time, you understand they're trying to win, and I was the guy that was on the [provisional] roster, so I guess they figured they'd give it a shot. If I felt better, it'd be a different story, but I don't think it would be fair to miss a week here and go play for them. Obviously, everyone knows it's not a serious injury, but it was enough to keep me out of games." |
Derrek Lee says that Major League Baseball officials were "disrespectful" in pressuring him to replace Kevin Youkilis on Team USA's World Baseball Classic roster.