Kuzul

Cliff Lee just went to the Philadelphia Phillies.

I hope this isn’t the first place you’re hearing it.

While many baseball fans outside of New York were relieved to see the Yankees would not be able to fix their starting pitching troubles this year, it’s still something that has left some of us glum. Why? Because the Northeastern stranglehold on baseball just returned to pre-expansion form.

Yes, I’m aware the 2010 World Series was contested by the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants, but if you’re telling me you expected Edgar Renteria and Juan Uribe to have that kind of October I’ll call you a liar right now.

The entire season and postseason predictions centered around the Yankees, Rays and Phillies. Sure, putting that much faith into a Rays team that wasn’t as good in any statistical category as they were in their wins column may have been foolish, but the point regarding the Yankees and Phillies stands.

Getting back on track, the three biggest cities in the traditional home of baseball, the colonial Northeastern cities, are New York, Philadelphia and Boston. The Yankees and Red Sox will continue being the two top spending markets for as long as we don’t have a cap (well, the Mets will throw their hat in too, but who really cares?) and the Phillies are finally realizing that hey, Philadelphia is a huge city with plenty of fans that will come out of the woodwork if the team can just win some games.

The Yankees have only won one championship since 2000, which is a huge disappointment for denizens of the Bronx. But even if they’ve only pulled one off, they’ve still missed the playoffs a grand total of one time in the wild card era.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, won two championships in the 2000s decade; those coming in the 86 year drought ending in 2004 as well as a repeat in 2007. The Phillies “only” won the series once this decade, in 2008, but millions of baseball fans were shocked when they narrowly avoided becoming the first national league team in over 30 year to win three pennants in a row. 

In 2010, we had the Yankees return most of their 2009 championship team with the notable exceptions of Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon. The team proved to have aged and saw many decreases in performance, especially in AJ Burnett and to a smaller extent Derek Jeter.

Failed experiments such as Nick Johnson and Javier Vazquez also caused some grief in New York. Thankfully, Robinson Cano was able to pick up much of the slack, allowing an injury-ridden, underperforming and aging team to stay in the homefield advantage race until the last week.

Although, some might argue that the Yankees were on cruise control to end September, as they preferred to not have to face Cliff Lee twice in a five game series, rather opting to destroy the Twins for the 19th time in 20 years (give or take). If this is true, then that was obviously a smart move as the Yankees did manage to be kicked out by the Rangers, albeit Lee only pitched once in that series.

The Boston Red Sox made a splash when they signed John Lackey and Adrian Beltre. Mike Cameron and Marco Scuturo were brought in to flesh out the lineup as well. While John Lackey managed to be about as fun to watch as a changed Dice-K and social security collecting Tim Wakefield, John Lester and Clay Bucholz both managed to put up near Cy Young caliber seasons.

Beltre managed to have his best year since his NL days in 2004, and Jason Bay didn’t seem to be missed too much. The Sox faced numerous injuries and were never quite able to contend for the American League East crown for one main reason: the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Tampa Bay Rays managed to make themselves a thorn in the side of the Yankees and Red Sox ever since they dropped the devil from their name in 2008. Alas, all good things must come to an end.

Doing their best imitation of their in-state brethren, the Florida Marlins, the Rays are now watching their best players leave for greener pastures and larger contracts. It’s the sad reality of Florida baseball. The fact that the stadium was at less than 50% capacity when they clinched a playoff spot probably didn’t help their payroll issues either. So bye bye Carl Crawford, see you later Carlos Pena, and hasta la vista to the bottom end of their bullpen in Rafael Soriano and Joaquin Benoit.

At least Evan Longoria, signed to the least fair contract in history, is here to stay. I don’t think it’s a bold prediction to say the Rays will flounder in 2011, or at least not be a major playoff threat. And this is great news for the two divisional rivals spending more than double of the Rays’ payroll.

2010 also saw another great year for the Philadelphia Phillies. Despite some questionable moves by the front office such as shipping away Cliff Lee and signing Ryan Howard until he won’t be able to play in the National League anymore (see http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/the-ryan-howard-deal-examining-a-baby-albatross/ before you get upset, Phillies fans), the Phillies managed to keep the best lineup in the National League as well as create the best playoff rotation not located in San Francisco.

The Phillies underachieved in the beginning of the season before a late surge that not only knocked the Atlanta Braves off their NL East perch, it threw them down a bloody well. That Roy Halladay fella, gained for Cliff Lee, probably didn’t hurt the team. Neither did the midseason acquisition of Roy Halladay or Cole Hamels returning to his previous form. The only weakness of the team was, surprise surprise, its bullpen.

But even that seemed to be better than the previous year. Oh, and giving up huge hits to a usually offensively impotent Giants team was probably a mistake too.

So now we’ve seen the offseason’s major moves unfold. The Rays are likely dead, the Rangers lost their best pitcher (sorry C.J. Wilson fans, but please don’t be offended by the suggestion that Cliff Lee is the better guy), the Giants aren’t likely to repeat (but, for what it’s worth, they weren’t likely to win in the first place), the Angels died a year ago and haven’t made any moves to recover, the Dodgers are destroyed by a divorce, the Rockies are unable to win in months not starting in September, the Twins are unable to win once it gets too chilly, the NL Central is a pointless division and every other team isn’t really worth mentioning (once again, sorry if I’m offending your team, but I am a Mariners fan after all).

The Red Sox picked up Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford. I’d say this gives them the best lineup in baseball, V-Mart’s departure not withstanding. Lester and Buchholz are two of the best pitchers in baseball, and Josh Beckett, John Lackey, Papelbon and Dice-K all have the potential to be much better than they were last year. MUCH better.

The Yankees are, well, the Yankees. The 2009 season saw the Yanks have the best player at all four infield positions in the American League. Year in and year out it’s like an all-star team that baseball fans can unite in hating.

The Bronx Bombers will have to improve their starting pitching, and now that Cliff Lee is off the market don’t be surprised if you see a move for Greinke or even a dark horse to shore up that rotation. The team is aging and will need to make some more moves to remain competitive, but we all know it’s coming. Anything less than a pennant would only be another disappointing season in New York. 

The Phillies haven’t made too many moves thus far, but they’ve grabbed the most envied package on the market in Cliff Lee. I thought Hernandez-Lee was the best 1-2 punch of the decade in Seattle. Now the only better pitcher than King Felix (Roy Halladay) is the Ace of Lee’s rotation. Not to mention behind Lee are Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels. Yeah, Cole Hamels is the No. 4 pitcher on the Phillies rotation.

How many teams would Hamels be the undisputed ace of? And he’s pitching FOURTH? The Phillies lineup is still easily the best in the National League. Jayson Werth has left for uh, “green”er pastures in Washington, but Rollins, Utley, Polanco, Howard, Ruiz and Victorino all remain. If Raul Ibanez and Carlos Ruiz are the worst guys in your lineup, you’re not doing too bad.

So, as of now, we have a three horse race. The three big markets in the northeast. Those guys who write about sports as if they’re the only cities in their leagues. Well that’s fun and all, it’s almost kind of retro.

But as a fan of one of the other 27 teams, I’m not that excited for this upcoming season. There are two major caveats though. First, preseason predictions prove time and time again to be worthless. Halladay and Lee may have back to pack injuries, or Cole Hamels could do his best Brad Lidge impersonation. Jeter could continue declining and Crawford might decide he has enough money.

Secondly, and more importantly, anything can happen in the playoffs. A Brian Sabean GM’d team can even win the World Series.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Throughout the entire hot stove season, all that people heard about Cliff Lee was the Yankees and Rangers.

Lee will go to New York because of the money; Lee will stay in Texas because of the familiarity with the organization and how close the state is to Little Rock, AR.

But what about returning to the Phillies?

It was in Philly where the whole Cliff Craze first occurred. When the Phillies acquired Cliff Lee in a trade with the Cleveland Indians for players nobody has ever heard of, no one could talk about him without including World Series and/or free agency.

When you’re a top free agent, you always have the New York Yankees as your de facto top choice. But what happens when you join a team with an already terrifying pitching rotation?

Now with the return of Cliff Lee, the pitching rotation of the Philadelphia Phillies goes from scary to just plain traumatizing.

Opposing teams best bet to beat Philly is to hope for the fifth starter, though even he would essentially be the third starter in 65 percent of the league or to just hope to face the bullpen before the ninth inning.

When faced with an elite closer, like the Phillies have, it becomes an eight-inning game for the other team. With a rotation like the Phillies, the only hope for opponents to score is by luck or shaky bullpen relief.

Just look at the top of the rotation: Roy Halladay pitched the most complete games in the majors last season and Cliff Lee has pitched the second most. Opposing teams are playing zero inning games with Lee and Halladay for sixteen games.

Unlike the Miami Heat of the NBA, Philly’s super-star starting pitchers do not need to learn how to play with each other; they just need to learn how to play with catcher Carlos Ruiz, something that isn’t really a problem.

The New York Mets look like a joke compared to Philly and the major moves of Dan Uggla to the Atlanta Braves, Jayson Werth to the Washington Nationals and Javier Vazquez to the Florida Marlins mean nothing now.

The Philadelphia Phillies will dominate the NL East.

But like the Miami Heat, the Phillies still have to beat the champs. Playing the role of the Boston Celtics of the National League, the San Francisco Giants still have their Fantastic Four of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner along with an improved lineup.

This will be great for baseball, as new powerhouse rivals are formed, diverting the attention of the media and fans away from the never-ending rivalry between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

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 MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Cliff Lee has signed with the Philadelphia Phillies one year after they traded him to the Seattle Mariners. The Phillies are the favorite to win the National League and World Series, right?

Wrong.

After the 2009 World Series, the Phillies set their sights on fixing their holes and begin prepared for the 2010 World Series. Philadelphia fell short, dropping the NLCS in six games to the San Francisco Giants, despite adding Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt.

The earlier-than-expected exit from the postseason had many Phillies fans questioning where they would go from there.

Jimmy Rollins was entering his option year. It was also a foregone conclusion Jayson Werth set to make big time money elsewhere.

Then, on Monday night, they net the biggest pitching fish on the market in Lee.

It seemed the Phillies push all their chips in last year and, now, the Lee deal looks more out of desperation. Come the winter of 2011, Oswalt, Hamels, Rollins, Brad Lidge and Ryan Madson are all free agents.

Keep this in mind: The defending World Series champion Giants defeated Lee twice in the Fall Classic. Not to mention, they defeated Hamels, Halladay and Oswalt in the NLCS.

Their biggest concern going into this season should have been replacing Jayson Werth. As of right now, his replacement is Dominic Brown.

The predominantly left-handed lineup of the Phillies will have a much more difficult time balancing the scorecard. This could spell bad news when they play teams with strong left-handed pitching (i.e.: Braves, Giants, Cardinals).

The Phillies lineup will look like this: Shane Victorino, Chase Utley, Placido Polanco, Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez, Rollins, Brown, Carlos Ruiz. The bench is also very thin. If the injuries of last year recur, it could be a long season for the Philadelphia offense.

Their biggest challenge will, once again, be the Giants.

San Francisco still has the best young staff in baseball and they should only get better. Tim Lincecum (26), Matt Cain (26), Jonathan Sanchez (28) and Madison Bumgarner (21) all return for 2011.

As this group proved, no lineup is a match for this fearsome foursome. They carried a 2.47 ERA while limiting opponents to a .196 batting average in the postseason.

The Giants key loss of the offseason was Juan Uribe, whom the Giants replaced with Miguel Tejada. Tejada has always been a better overall hitter than Uribe.

Pablo Sandoval’s weight concerns are being hashed out this winter.

San Francisco won it all with their pitching and timely hitting. Most of the said hitters return and their defense looks to have improved from a year ago.

The Giants are also awaiting the Major League arrival of top prospect Brandon Belt. He is a more polished hitter and defender at this point than reigning NL Rookie of the Year Buster Posey was.

Belt, 22, has given Giants management much confidence for the future.

The health of versatile Mark DeRosa will give the Giants more options with their lineup.

To hand the National League Championship trophy to the Phillies would be premature. I mean, didn’t everyone do that last season?

Yankees and Phillies in the World Series, remember? Oh, wait, never mind.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The reports are starting to come in that star-pitcher, Cliff Lee, has decided to take fewer years and less money, to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies. In doing so, Lee has turned down the opportunity to rejoin the Texas Rangers, where he won the American League Pennant, as well as turning down the chance to join the New York Yankees. 

For both the Rangers and the Yankees, Cliff Lee was the number one priority of the offseason; so now what do these two teams do? 

Here’s a look at 10 moves, both before and during the season, these teams could make to strengthen their pitching. 

Begin Slideshow

Around 12:30 this morning, my phone buzzed with an e-mail alert, one I was not ready for and expecting.

According to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com, Cliff Lee has just agreed to sign a five-year deal for about $115 million with the Philadelphia Phillies.

The deal, according to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, has a vesting option for a sixth year in Philadelphia.

Lee turned down offers from both the Texas Rangers, who had offered five-year and six-year deals to stay with the 2010 American League Champions, and the New York Yankees, who had offered a seven-year deal worth about $155 million.

First, let me admit, I got it all wrong with Lee. Really wrong.

I was convinced that Lee was going to come to the Bronx this winter because of the desperate need the Yankees had for starting pitching and because of the Yankees offering the most money.

Usually, the Yankees don’t get turned down very often when they offer the most money, like the case two years ago when the Yankees offered seven years and $161 million to get CC Sabathia.

But if you want to look really hard at it, Lee turned down two guaranteed years and $40 million less to go back to Philadelphia. Why?

Does the Game 3 of the ALCS at Yankee Stadium stick in the minds of Lee and his wife Kristen, when she and along with other wives of the Rangers, had beer and spit thrown into their direction sitting in the visitors’ players’ seats?

Lee said that the incidents of that night would not play into his decision. I beg to differ here, because if he wanted to come to New York, he should have done so say…Thursday?

It really makes it look like that Lee never really wanted to come to the Yankees all along and basically took the Yankees for a ride and left them empty handed in the end.

(If any fans from that night in October who are reading this and were present during Game 3 and in the vicinity of those fans who spat at and threw beer at Lee’s wife, WHY DIDN’T YOU STOP THEM???

Throw a tackle, distract them, buy them 10 beers in the Diamond Club, anything to stop them from that. You knew the Yankees were going to negotiate with that woman’s husband to come here. Also, if you were one of those fans who did spit and throw beer at Lee’s wife, don’t bother ever coming to Yankee Stadium again.)

The Yankees aren’t the only team left empty handed in this, as the Rangers are just as empty handed.

Texas would have never gone as far as they did in 2010 without Lee helping them get to their first World Series in franchise history.

Now, Texas is a good team and probably would have won the A.L. West with or without Lee, but they wouldn’t have made the World Series, much less even gotten out of the series with the Tampa Bay Rays without Lee.

The Phillies and their general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. look like an utter genius here in this whole drama.

Amaro just sits back, lets Texas and New York fight it out for over a week, dishing out the cash, frantically waiting for a decision from Lee, (especially to the point where Texas owner Chuck Greenberg underminds Nolan Ryan’s and Jon Daniels’ power by flying to Arkansas to up Texas’ offer for Lee himself), while he at the last second, hands out an offer for Lee that he accepts.

Amaro was the ultimate opportunist there; he is a very smart man.

Oh, and so is Sports Illustrated and WFAN’s Jon Heyman, who had said ALL ALONG there was a “mystery team” in the bidding for Lee.

George King of the New York Post had said the “mystery team” offered only a four or five-year deal, much less than the Rangers or Yankees.

Many felt there was no such team, and even criticized and mocked Heyman for his reporting on the “mystery team.”

Guess what mockers and doubters, Heyman got it right, he got it right the whole freakin’ time!

So now for the Yankees, where does this leave them?

Brian Cashman at the beginning of the Winter Meetings emphasized the need for starting pitching, which meant all in for Lee.

Well guess what Brian, you haven’t signed squat yet. And you just missed out AGAIN on Lee.

It really kind of annoys me that Cashman missed out and refused to go up on his seven-year offer for Lee, not even a smidgen to budge on his offer.

This is the same General Manager who traded for Randy Johnson, who couldn’t win a playoff game and missed out on Carlos Beltran because of that trade, gave money to Carl Pavano, who spent nine-tenths of his time on the disabled list in four years, traded for Kevin Brown and Javier Vazquez (twice), who couldn’t get an out in Game 7 of the ALCS against Boston, gave money to Jaret Wright, who all but lost his velocity, command and ability to pitch, and Kei Igawa, who has basically been a minor leaguer for the last four going on five seasons.

Cashman will give guys like that money, getting horrible results, yet, he will not budge on his offer for Lee, who is a guaranteed winner, especially winning big games in the postseason.

Way to go Brian. You really showed them by not budging on that offer. I’m sure George Steinbrenner is turning over in his grave as we speak about this.

So now, really, what do the Yankees do?

Zack Greinke’s name has come up in conversations, but right now, the Toronto Blue Jays and Washington Nationals, another team that missed out on Lee, are in hot pursuit of Greinke and could offer a better package to the Kansas City Royals for him.

Plus, with Greinke’s history of an anxiety disorder, New York may not be the best place for him to call home, even if he said he would have waived his no-trade clause for a trade to the Yankees.

Matt Garza has also been rumored to be on the trading block, but really, do you think the Tampa Bay Rays, another Yankee rival, is going to trade one of their big-game pitchers to an in-division rival? No chance in hell that happens.

We all wondered what Plan B is if the Yankees didn’t sign Lee.

It’s a great question, because right now, the Yankees don’t know it, because they never thought it would ever happen.

Maybe right now, Cashman gets on the phone with Andy Pettitte and literally begs him to come back for one final season instead of retiring.

With or without Pettitte, the Yankees still have a burning need for starting pitching, especially considering how much better their rival Boston Red Sox got over the last week.

In a week’s time, they traded for first basemen Adrian Gonzalez and signed Carl Crawford and added them to an offense that already has Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz.

So now not only did the Yankees lose out on the one pitcher they coveted all year long, they just became the second best team in the division in a matter of a week.

I wonder how that sits well for the fans in New York? Not too well I’m guessing. Because personally, it makes me sick.

So now, as Yankees Universe sits here on this early Tuesday, stunned, shocked and some in disgust, many will now wonder what will the Yankees do in the wake of missing out on Lee?

Does Cashman have anymore tricks up his sleeve this winter?

He has to, because right now, his pitching staff is rather thin and needs some serious help.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Surprise, surprise…coveted free-agent ace Cliff Lee has signed with his former club the Philadelphia Phillies.  According to multiple media outlets, the 32 year-old All-Star hurler will make a return to the team who he helped lead to the 2009 World Series and reportedly has agreed to a five-year, $120 million deal with a vesting option for a sixth year.

Lee put up sparkling numbers that postseason with a 4–0 record, 33 strikeouts in 40.1 innings pitched, and a microscopic ERA of 1.56 ERA and was the only Philadelphia starter earn a victory during the 2009 World Series with each of their two victories.

In a move that will stun baseball fans across the nation, Lee turned down the advances of the New York Yankees who defeated the Phillies during that same World Series.  By joining Philadelphia, he will have rejected a seven-year offer from the Yankees that would have paid him in the range of $160 million. 

It should also be mentioned that Lee would have earned significantly higher endorsement contracts if he opted to put on the pinstripes and the opportunity to team up with close friend C.C. Sabathia.

The Texas Rangers were said to have given Lee multiple deals to consider including one that worth more than $20 million annually over six seasons.  Rangers‘ manager Ron Washington admitted that he was confident that the star hurler telling reporters “that he’ll be here.” 

Lee’s performances this past postseason propelled the Rangers into the 2010 World Series where they lost to the San Francisco Giants in six games.  Some baseball insiders felt that Texas held an advantage in negotiations due to the Rangers’ proximity to his Arkansas home.

Lee will now form a piece of what experts will undoubtedly refer to as an “All-Star” Phillies rotation.  Along with Lee, Roy Halladay is one of the most revered pitchers in the game. 

Philadelphia will now have a one-two combination that no team across the MLB can match.  Completing the “murderer’s row” of top-four starters are Roy Oswalt, who after July trade from the Houston Astros recaptured his dominant ways, and Cole Hamels who enjoyed a terrific comeback season in 2010.

The capture of Lee will give Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel an arsenal of supreme starters to choose from in potential playoff matchups as the Phillies are surely a “shoe-in” to make the playoffs in the upcoming season. 

Club general manager Ruben Amaro will likely deal away Joe Blanton to free up some funds as 26-year-old Kyle Kendrick is their fifth starter to fill out the rotation.

Lee is coming off of a fine 2009 regular season campaign where he put up a 3.18 ERA, 185 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.00 in combined duty with the Rangers and the Seattle Mariners.  A nine-year veteran, his career ERA stands at 3.85 with a win-loss record of 102-61.

As Phillies fans awake to Tuesday morning, the will be greeted by the sensational news that their club has reacquired one of the predominant starters in baseball to add to their already stunning rotation. 

Late-night message board “Phanatics” are already predicting a return to the “fall classic” for their beloved Phils.  Only time will tell if this group can live up to the lofty expectations that most MLB pundits will place upon the Phillies in 2011.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

If the Phillies somehow manage to land Cliff Lee, they would undoubtedly have one of, if not the greatest pitching rotation in baseball history. Just imagine the Pirates having to face Lee, Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt in a three-game series. Pittsburgh would be lucky to score a run.

I personally believe the Giants have had the best pitching staff the last couple years, and this season, they proved me correct. Not only did the Giants’ pitchers post one of the lowest September team ERAs of all time, Tim Lincecum and Co. went head-to-head with some of the best pitchers in baseball (Lee, Halladay and Oswalt) and beat them. In the playoffs.

But if San Francisco had to face Lee followed by Halladay followed by Oswalt followed by Hamels (Hamels would be the ace pitcher for quite a few MLB teams), I don’t see how the the Giants could stand a chance.

You can make the argument that if the Yankees were to sign Lee, it would be even worse for baseball than if Lee rejoined the Phillies. However, the Yankees are already a near lock for either the AL East or AL wild-card crown, so just one more ace on their team wouldn’t matter too much in the long run.

The National League, on the other hand, still has the possibility of being somewhat competitive next year. In the NL West, pretty much every team has a chance to win the division. In the Central, the Reds and Cardinals look about even and in the East, well… you can pretty much count on the Phillies having the edge, regardless of where Lee signs.

Lee joining the Phillies would put them on a whole different level than anyone else in the National League. In reality, only the AL East’s Red Sox and Yankees would even have the talent level to compete with Philadelphia.

There is no denying how good Cliff Lee is. Let’s face it, the Rangers were not good enough to make it to the World Series this year without him. He is already of the best playoff pitchers in the history of the sport and is worth every penny that he will be signed for. Of course, that is only if you believe that the average MLB player deserves to be paid $3 million a year.

Adding Lee to an already outstanding rotation is like adding insult to injury for any NL East opponents. How exactly can the Marlins compete with the payroll of the Phillies? Adding Lee to the Yankees rotation will at least make the Yankees-Red Sox games even better.

The best case scenario is that Lee stays with Texas. Angels fans will not be too happy, but there will at least be a little more parity in the American League. Most of all, it will keep the optimism level of Mets fans up, if only for a few months.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Cliff Lee’s imminent free-agent destination is no certainty yet, but there’s one reason he would re-sign with the Rangers (his family) and 160,000,000 proverbial reasons he would sign with the Yankees.  Maybe there is a chance his family is reason enough to sign with the Rangers, but, as we have often learned this time of year: the Yankees + desperation mode = new Yankees.  Think for a moment of the last time you remember the Yankees turning up as offseason losers and you will understand the likelihood they lose out on Lee.

But the rest of the league, known as “Other 28,” still could make waves by adding starting pitchers this offseason.  Some teams are blessed with an abundance of arms, while others are cursed with low revenues and looming free agency.  Other teams sign or make deals for pitchers each offseason but still always have a need (I’m looking at you, Milwaukee). 

Here, then, are 10 pitching targets for teams missing out on Cliff Lee.

Begin Slideshow

Ruben Amaro Jr., Phillies General Manager, is a man of mystery.

Citing the team’s policy against discussing negotiations with players, he often leaves much of the fan base and baseball writers alike wondering about the state of the Phillies’ off-season.

So when rumors of a third team, after the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees, were becoming involved in the battle for Cliff Lee, baseball minds immediately began to gravitate towards the ever-secretive Philadelphia Phillies.

But how involved are they?

According to Jim Salisbury of CSNphilly.com, who spoke to the Phillies General Manager at the annual Winter Meetings last week, the Phillies were trying to “shoot for the moon” with potential deals, which Salisbury interpreted to mean the Phillies were laying the groundwork with Kansas City for a potential acquisition of the Royals’ ace, Zack Greinke.

However, a recent report from ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick suggests that the Phillies and Royals haven’t talked about Greinke, making a trade unlikely.

So if not Greinke, then who?

As the Yankees and Rangers await an answer from the free agent class’ top talent, baseball writers have been speculating over news of a third interested team, one that would offer fewer guaranteed years than Lee’s known suitors, but would be a serious threat to the Yankees’ and Rangers’ chances regardless.

That is a hefty assumption, since the Yankees are rumored to have offered the left hander a seven year deal worth about $160 million.

The Rangers, who remain wary of offering the 32-year-old Lee a guaranteed seven years, offered an equally absurd amount of money.

So why would Lee seriously consider another destination?

Though Lee himself has come out to state that the incident may have been blown out of proportion, it is worth noting that his wife, Kristen Lee, had an unpleasant experience at Yankee Stadium in 2010.

While Lee took the mound on the road in New York, Kristen sat beneath a group of disrespectful Yankees fans, who would go on to throw their garbage at and spit on her. While there are going to be rowdy fans in any ballpark, it is worth noting.

The Rangers, on the other hand, do not have anything of the sort worth mentioning.

In fact, new Rangers’ President, Hall of Fame pitcher, Nolan Ryan, is in an excellent position to offer Lee a huge contract.

The Rangers, who just signed a large deal with a local TV-network, are helped by the backing of a new ownership group, headed by Chuck Greenberg, who has made his interest in Lee noticeable after flying to the lefty’s home in Arkansas twice.

While it is noted that both Cliff and his wife enjoyed their time in Philadelphia, how likely is it that the ace could rejoin the Phillies?

Well, that remains to be seen.

The Phillies are a team very reluctant to offer free agents a seven year deal. Outside of Chase Utley’s seven-year contract extension, the team has found comfort in giving its players three-year deals, a la Brad Lidge, Shane Victorino, Joe Blanton, Placido Polanco, Roy Halladay, and Carlos Ruiz. 

So while Jayson Stark of ESPN believes that the Phillies are the third team in the Lee sweepstakes, he also notes that Lee will have to take less then seven guaranteed years.  

Guaranteed is the key word.

Lee, who will be 32 on Opening Day, has faced skepticism about his health, and whether or not he’ll be able to endure a seven-year contract.

The Yankees, who are the only team known to have offered seven years, probably only did so because they are desperate for starting pitching.

The Rangers remain firm at six years, while this elusive “mystery team” is offering less guaranteed years than both.

That’s the Phillies’ motive.

The Phillies, who were unwilling to offer Jayson Werth four guaranteed years, made him a very similar contract offer—three years with a vesting option for a fourth year based on performance.

Who is to say that they can’t offer Lee the same type of deal?

Envision, for a moment, the Phillies offering Cliff Lee a guaranteed four-year deal worth $23 million a year.

A four-year, $69 million deal is not a bad haul for a 32-year-old late bloomer.

Add to that some interesting contractual language, such as vesting options over the next three years, which become club options if the left hander fails to reach the quota, for games started, number of innings pitched, etc., and the Phillies and Cliff Lee could each reach a valuable agreement—a seven-year contract totaling $161 million.

The Phillies have a lot of valuable offers to make Lee, outside of money.

They will enter the 2011 season with the greatest “top three” in baseball, and arguably the best rotation in baseball.

If he were to join fellow aces Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, and Roy Oswalt in red-pinstripes, the Phillies would have a perfectly balanced rotation—Halladay (R) / Lee (L) / Oswalt (R) / Hamels (L) / Blanton (R).

There are no guarantees in baseball, but the Phillies are early World Series favorites, and have assembled the greatest rotation in the history of baseball.

Bringing his family back to a city that showed him great respect and endured months of devastation after he left—all of these are points of interest for the 32-year-old family man, who has now appeared in the World Series twice and has yet to walk away with a ring.

Can the Phillies land Cliff Lee?—Absolutely.

However, it is going to take a bit of compromise from both sides.

The Phillies will undoubtedly be forced to move Joe Blanton or Raul Ibanez to make room on the 2011 payroll, and Lee will have to leave a large amount of money on the table to go to a place he is familiar with.

Any way you slice it, Cliff Lee makes any rotation better, regardless of his price tag.

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