CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Cliff Lee and Michael Young weren't teammates for long in Texas -- only for a few months in 2010. But now that they're together again in Philadelphia, Lee says he, and others, were "baffled" by the way the Rangers treated Young in his final few years with the team.

Lee described Young on Monday as "the perfect teammate" and "the heart and soul of the Rangers," and said he thought the team "borderline took him for granted."

Asked if he understood why the Rangers tried for several years to trade Young, Lee replied:

"I think that baffled a lot of people who were around that organization. Like I said, he was the heart and soul of that team for a long time, and I can't understand their thinking on a few of the moves they made with him," Lee said. "He's a really good player. I don't know why you wouldn't just let him do his thing."

"I don't know their thinking or their motives behind those things," Lee went on. "You don't really have to understand it. They've got their reasons. They've got their theories on their team. And they have the right to do whatever they want, really, as an organization. But in my opinion, you want guys like Michael Young around. And you want him to be happy. And you want to let him go out there and just do what he does.

"He never brings any problems to the scenario at all. So I didn't personally understand it. But I didn't know what was going on behind the scenes."