CLIFF LEE signs with the... holy crap PHILLIES !!!!

Those numbers are being revised as the day is going on, and it also appears the Yankees did not offer a guaranteed 7 years.

 

It's all moot at this point! He's a Phillie! Good luck to him!

Anyway, I'm just having fun this morning. Not meaning to ruffle any feathers!

 

whos gonna be the ace now?

 

Cliff Lee Contract details:

5 years $120 million ($24 million annual, highest ever, higher than Yankees offer)
6th year vesting option of $27.5 million that vests if he pitches 200 innings in year 5, or 400 innings between years 4-5
Total potential contract value: 6 years, $147.5 million
OR a buyout of the 6th year of $12.5 million

Worst case scenario he signed a 5 year $132.5 million contract.

Yankees offer to Cliff Lee:
6 years $136 million (22.6 million AAV)
$16 million player option for seventh year


Cliff Lee did not leave money on the table and he did not sign with Philly because of his wife. They offered the most lucrative package. In the worst case scenario he will make 4 million less in 5 years than the Yankees offered him over 6 and he will have the opportunity to hit free agency again.

Contract details gathered from: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/12/agree-to-sign-cliff-lee.html

 

Halladay,Lee,Oswalt,Hamels , Right ,Left,Right,Left

 

I think the Yankees are in trouble. A-Rod isn't the player he was because he can't cheat with the roids and Mark T was a bad signing for the amount of money they paid for him. They have pitching issues as well. I don't see them as a favorite come next year.

 

They didn't sign a DH (like Matsui) because Posada is the DH next year. They just signed Russel Martin to come in and compete with their stud catching prospect for the job.

They didn't sign Crawford because he wanted ridiculous money and wasn't a big enough upgrade over anyone in the already productive outfield to justify that kind of dollars.

They needed pitching. They got outbid, and seeing the final numbers that came across for Lee I'm glad they did.

 

They should win the East with no problem if they stay healthy, but winning in the postseason certainly isn't a guarantee. In a series the Giants can still throw out Lincecum/Cain at least 4 times, and Sanchez looks pretty good himself. The Cardinals will have Wainwright/Carpenter and Garcia was great last year. And you never know when you will see a Sterling Hitchcock/Brandon Backe/Jeff Suppan dominate a playoff game.

Still, they have to be the favorite since they can throw an ace out on full rest throughout the playoffs.

 

I'm an astros fan all the way but seeing as how they don't have a legitimate shot at a championship this year, I'm pulling heavily for a ring for Oswalt. This may do it.

 

Took less money to go back to the team that traded him...f'n idiot...but you can't aruge that is the best rotation in baseball...best money can buy...

 

Except Cody Ross will probably never have that insane playoff performance again.

 

If Greinke didn't have social anxiety disorder, I'd say they'd be all over him like white on rice....but I can't imagine a guy dealing with that having to pitch in New York.

Can't imagine the Rays would trade Garza in the division.

So where do they go?

 

Probably will explore Brandon Webb, inquire on availability of Billingsley, Nolasco, maybe even Josh Johnson.

Most probably outcome is Pettitte comes back and they sign a guy like Webb to an incentive laden deal.

 

I promise I'm not rubbing it in...but I'm guessing you're pretty disappointed with this offseason...right?

 

I agree. On the whole, in a 7 games series, they made the following changes:

Slight improvement in one game (moving from Oswalt or Hamels to Lee)
Big improvement in one game (moving from Blanton to Lee)
Offensive downgrade in seven games (losing Werth and his 0.900 OPS)

I'm not sure they are any better in the playoffs today than they were this past season.

 

Eh...

I love Cliff Lee. One of my favorite pitchers to watch ever. But to be honest with you I'm not overly disappointed. Yankees were in the ALCS last year with an implosion by Burnett, a collapse by Phil Hughes, a major injury to Andy Pettitte, a down year by A-Rod, a collapse by Jeter, a down year from Tex, a half season disaster from Granderson...

I'm interested to see what they do to try to improve the roster and fill out the rotation. Could have been better obviously, and I don't think the Yankees are the favorites at all, but it's not really a bad offseason.

 

There was an article about this, written by Jason Stark and it pretty much says why in the world did the Phillies trade Cliff Lee to the Mariners in the first place if they really wanted him this badly? The prospects they got back from him are either gone or are not going to be able to help them, so they essentially gave him away for nothing to Seattle & then had to give him this huge contract to bring him back when they thought they couldn't afford him in the first place!

 

I want to say they are near the best ever or the best in modern era, but there's also 1971 Orioles (early 70s Orioles) and 1997 Braves (90s Braves).

Ironically, those teams did not win the World Series in those particular seasons.

In fact, I think both squads with those set of good starting pitchers only won 2 World Series combined. Two teams who were notorious for being underachievers in the playoffs.

Though, Halladay and Lee were pretty dominant in the playoffs, especially Cliff Lee.

 

OT: Carl Crawford and Jayson Werth were "smdh" overpaid, that's what makes baseball look more ridiculous than other sports with players' salaries.

 

Wow. When you see it like that... That's just a brutally difficult rotation.