Does anybody remember that Cosby Show episode where Claire and her friend sing 'Mr. Lee' by The Bobbettes? It was a great episode, as the Cosby Show often did cool, theatrical stuff like that. But we are not here to discuss music history, or even television history. We are here to talk about baseball, and that's what I intend to do. So without further ado, let's broach the topic of the famous Cliff Lee.
It seemed like the entire off-season became one big Cliff Lee update reel. Every day or two, sports blog around the country were saying that the New York Yankees were the favorites to sign the lefty, or that the Texas Rangers still had a legitimate shot at wrangling in their prized mid-season acquisition. Only occasionally did one here talk of a mystery team popping into the picture. There were rumors of the Angels, or the Nationals, but not once did I hear anything about the Philadelphia Phillies showing interest in the star that they traded away. So it was to my surprise that on Tuesday, December 14th, I heard that the Phillies had not only entered discussions, but had actually signed Mr. Lee.
Whhaaaaaa?! Are these the same Phillies that traded Clifford away just one year ago? The same team that could have had both Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee in the same rotation but chose not to? Surely you can't be serious? I am serious, and don't call me Shirley. Yeah, the Philadelphia Phillies apparently felt they made an egregious error in letting Mr. Lee slip away last year, and felt they had to correct the situation. I mean they still had Halladay, and Hamels, not to mention they picked up a pretty good starter in Roy Oswalt mid-season. But the team managed to miss out on a third-straight World Series visit. I guess the Philly front-office believes Cliff Lee is the missing piece.
An expensive missing piece he is, too. Cliff Lee signed a 5-year, $120 million deal, meaning Cliff will make an estimated $24 million dollars per season, which makes him the most well paid pitcher ever. But Lee actually passed on more overall money from both the Yankees who offered $148 million over seven years, and Texas who offered $161 million over the same span. So then why did Lee chose Philly instead? There are several rumored reasons. One is that he loved Philly while he was there for a brief stint in 2009, and never wanted to be traded away in the first place. And another is that during the 2010 ALCS, Yankees fans actually booed, spit and poured beer on Cliff's wife while she was in the stands. Whether that is true is still debatable, but it may have been enough to make Lee turn his nose to the Evil Empire. As for the Rangers, I guess Lee just didn't think they had as good of a shot to repeat as the Phillies.
So now the Phils have a rotation of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels, and Joe Blanton, although Blanton is likely to be traded soon. From name recognition alone, this is a formidable group, and they have already been called the Phatastic Phour, and the Phearsome Phoursome around the internet. While this group certainly have the ability to get the Phils back to the World Series, they are definitely a pricey lot. The Phillies will have in 2011, three players making $20 million or more in Halladay, Lee and Ryan Howard. Throw in Oswalt's $16 million, Chase Utley's $15.3 million and three other contracts worth a combined $34.7 million, plus everyone else on the team, and this squad is right up there with Boston and the Yankees in terms of spending.
But there is also risk involved here as 3/5 of the starting rotation will be 33 or older, and every starting day position player will be 30 or over except in right-field which will probably be played by young stud Dominic Brown. So this team has incredible incentive to win and win now. If they don't, and things go downhill over the next two years due to lack of ability or injuries or whatever, then the Phils will be stuck with some seriously debilitating contracts. If all goes well though, this could be one of the most dominate teams ever assembled.
Enough about Mr. Lee and his millions upon millions of dollars. Another Phillie made news recently, former General Manager Pat Gillick. The former Blue Jays (1978-1994), Orioles (1996-1998), Mariners (2000-2003), and Phillies (2006-2008) GM was elected to the Hall of Fame recently. As Baseball-Reference.com puts it, "He is considered by many to be the chief architect who transformed the club from an expansion franchise to a team that won back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and 1993." While his other stints were much shorter, they all proved successful, and most recently he helped the Phillies win the 2008 World Series by bringing in such talent as Brad Lidge and the ageless Jamie Moyer. Congratulations to Mr. Gillick.
And finally, a bit of sad news as long-time Chicago Cubs icon, Ron Santo passed away on December 2nd. Mr. Santo was well before my time, but he was a dominate third-baseman in the 1960s. His run-producing power helped transform the position from one of pure defense to one of offense as well. He did all this while playing with diabetes, which eventually took its toll in the amputation of both of his legs below the knees. He remained active in the Chicago community, helping to fight juvenile diabetes, and called the Cubs' radio broadcast since 1990. In his impressive career, "He was a nine-time All-Star,... a five-time Gold Glove winner...finished in the top five in the MVP voting twice, led the league in walks four times, led the league in on-base percentage twice, and was in the top ten in slugging five times." (Baseball-reference.com) It seems as though everybody who knew him loved him, and the fans of Chicago baseball, and indeed baseball everywhere will miss him.
That's all for now, but stay tuned as there are still some very talented free-agents left on the board, and there is lots and lots of baseball debating to do. I hope everyone enjoys their holiday season!
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