Cliff Lee Signs With the Phillies, Leaves Yankees, Rangers Searching for Answers
December 14, 2010 · Joseph DelGrippo · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
Well, it is finally official.
Cliff Lee is signed sealed and delivered to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Including all option years, Lee was offered a total of $148 million by the New York Yankees and $161 million by the Texas Rangers. Surprisingly, the Rangers offered MORE total dollars than the almighty Yankees.
And Ruben Amaro, GM of the Phillies, is a virtual master salesman.
The Rangers brass must be devastated. The Yankees brass is probably hard at work working the phones to try and get a veteran pitcher.
And Ruben Amaro is a genius.
How can he obtain Cliff Lee, then Roy Halladay, then Roy Oswalt and now Cliff Lee again.
And despite making three major trades for three No. 1 type starters, he still has tons of pitching talent in their minor league system with Vance Worley, Jarrod Cosart and Brody Colvin.
Not that they will need these guys any time soon, although Worley did pitch well in a brief callup in 2010. If the Phillies trade Joe Blanton, then Worley has inside tract into the No. 5 spot.
While I said that Amaro is a genius, he does make strange deals, but those deals are always when he attempts to resign his own players. Giving a three year extension to Blanton for $24 million was extremely idiotic.
Also, that extension for Ryan Howard was kind of weird, too.
When it comes to other teams guys he can work wonders.
After trading for Halladay last off season, Amaro signed the 2010 Cy Young winner to a below market extension.
Now he convinced Cliff Lee to take almost $50 million less to sign with the Phillies.
This is also not to say that Lee left all that money on the table. This new deal is supposedly for $120 million over five years with a option with easily attainable incentives.
That deal could be for $135 million or more. Plus, if his back issues hold up, Lee likely will be able to pitch after this current deal is over. That means he can make another $10-15 million.
So Lee really didn’t turn down the Yankees gazillion dollars because the Yankees didn’t even offer the most money and Lee liked what he saw in Philadelphia when he spent half the season there in 2009.
And now Lee gets to keep his scruffy beard.
If you want to blame Yankee GM Brian Cashman, go back to last years deadline when he refused to include Eduardo Nunez in the Cliff Lee deal with the Mariners. If Lee comes to New York last season, maybe Lee feels about his time in New York the way he feels about his time in Philadelphia.
The Phillies now possibly possess the best rotation in the National League, although the San Francisco rotation is pretty good, too. Plus they beat Halladay and Lee twice in the postseason this past year.
But the Phillies are not quite guaranteed to have a parade down Broad Street next fall. Except for the assumed Domonic Brown replacing Jayson Werth, the entire Phillies lineup is over 30 years old for 2011. Cole Hamels is the only starting pitcher under 30.
And injuries have really hit their middle infield with lower body issues to both Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley. Plus Howard and Ibanez have declined.
Plus, the lineup is extremely left handed and there is no Jayson Werth to balance out Howard, Utley and Raul Ibanez.
I am not saying they are not going to be the favorites because they are. Everybody likes big names on paper but conveniently forget about age (except when it comes to Derek Jeter).
But funny things happen over a 162-game schedule where the game is played every day. All players over 30 years old rarely make it through the entire season.
As I said in my piece last week from the Winter Meetings, the Phillies could try and trade Hamels for a right-handed bat and some prospects. He would bring back a boatload (especially with two seasons left of control), but after the Lee trade fiasco last year, I don’t see Amaro making that type of mistake again.
At least until next offseason. Could the Yankees be interested?
The Phillies did not get anything back in the Lee trade last season, and now give up their first round pick to the Rangers in a very deep draft. Not a problem now, but maybe down the road.
While the Phillies shocked the baseball world early Tuesday AM, they still have lots of issues.
Can Ruben Amaro work his genius again before Spring Training?
Read more New York Yankees news on BleacherReport.com
Yankee Tickets
Shop Yankee
