Larry Brown Sports

Cliff Lee was a one-man show for the Phillies Tuesday night. The southpaw went eight innings of scoreless ball to beat the Dodgers 2-1. He allowed just four hits while striking out 10 before yielding to Ryan Madson who converted the save. Oh yeah, he also provided half of Philadelphia’s offense.

Phifer went deep in the 7th inning to put the Phils up 2-0. It was his second blast of the season, and immediately after hitting the home run he directed his attention to relief pitcher Kyle Kendrick. Why? Because Lee had won a friendly bet by hitting the home run.

The gesture in the picture above is Lee signaling to Kendrick in the bullpen that he needs to pay up like a bank teller. Lee elaborated on the bet after the game. “It’s just a friendly wager,” Lee said. “It’s a little side deal.”

So what are the stakes?

“I think we’re going to keep that between us,” he said. “We can call it dinner or whatever you want to call it.”

Yeah, somehow I don’t think the “breaking bread” signal means you owe me dinner. Let’s just hope Kendrick has enough money to pay off the bet after being robbed recently.

When the 2010 offseason got underway in October, the Yankees had a clear-cut priority: sign Cliff Lee.  New York’s rotation is rock solid at the top with C.C. Sabathia, but they could have used another ace as insurance for the erratic A.J. Burnett.  Yankees fans had grown so accustomed to Brian Cashman and the Steinbrenners getting their guy that they were stunned when Lee signed with the Phillies.  As it turns out, New York finished third in the race for the biggest prize on the free agent market.

Lee told WIP in Philly, via Hardball Talk, that if he didn’t sign with Philadelphia he probably would have returned to Texas.  The reason?  The Yankees are getting old.

“Texas probably finished second to be honest with you,” Lee said.  “Just as far as the quality of the team and the chance to win a World Series ring, I think they’re a better team. That’s just my opinion. The Yankees can do anything at any moment to improve and they’re not afraid to go do things. That was part of the decision making process too, but I felt like with what the Red Sox had done and it seems like some of the Yankee guys are getting older, but I liked the Rangers.”

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The Philadelphia Phillies have been one of the best teams in baseball over the past three seasons, reaching the NLCS three times, the World Series twice, and putting on one big fat ring.

This past season they were the favorites to emerge from the National League for the third straight year, but ran into a destined Giants team that dominated them from a pitching standpoint. The Giants had a very mediocre offense, but their superb pitching was able to get them over the hump. The Phillies clearly took note.

With the addition of Cliff Lee to a staff that already includes Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels, Philadelphia has now constructed a pitching staff that is better than San Francisco. It is crazy good. One NL GM summed it up pretty simply: “Oh … my … God.”

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The Philadelphia Phillies reintroduced their big free agent acquisition today — one that Phillies fans grew fond of during a World Series run two years ago.  Cliff Lee appeared relieved to be back in Philly after being bounced all across the United States over the past two seasons.  Lee, who will wear No. 33 now that Roy Halladay has taken over his old No. 34, spoke about the opportunity to join a rotation that could be “historic,” as he termed it.  He also praised the fans in Philadelphia and cited them as one of the main reasons he chose to return.

The Yankees needed to get Lee and they couldn’t pull it off, leaving Brian Cashman with a rotation that is full of holes.  Lee will likely be praised for leaving money on the table by signing with Philadelphia, but the lefty said it best when he told reporters that “enough is enough” when you hit a certain point.  He turned out to be the Yankees worst nightmare in free agency — a guy who actually cares that fans spit on his wife when he visited Yankee stadium as the opposition more than he cares about a longer, more lucrative deal.

Fans in Texas and/or Seattle might be a little offended by one of the more humorous moments of Lee’s introductory press conference, when he alluded to the fact that Philly fans “don’t need a teleprompter to tell them to cheer.”  If that’s a shot at Texas, Rangers fans will likely take offense.  If it’s a shot at the Mariners, fans will probably be confused and asking themselves what they could have possibly had to cheer for last season.

As far as the money is concerned, Lee will make more per year for the next five than he would have in New York.  The truth of the matter is he probably knows he isn’t going to pitch until he’s 40 so a contract that’s loaded with dollars in its final years wouldn’t really be beneficial.  However you want to analyze it, the Phillies rotation will be one of the scariest baseball has ever seen.

The sky is falling in New York right now, but when the dust settles the baseball world will get back to the realization that the Yankees are still one of the best teams in baseball.  No one expected Cliff Lee to turn down years and money to sign with the Phillies, but that’s what happened.  Now, Brian Cashman needs to deal with it.  So the question remains: what do they do now?

The Yankees won the wild card last year and retained every single starter this offseason, so that’s a start.  While a lot of their core players are getting up there in age, there aren’t many people who are concerned about this team being able to score runs — especially playing in the friendly confines of Yankees stadium.  New York’s starting rotation is a different story.  Cashman need not panic just yet, but he should be very, very concerned about his starting pitching depth.

With Andy Pettitte still a free agent, Yankees.com has C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Phil Hughes and … wait for it … Ivan Nova listed as the team’s top four starters for 2011.  Who?  Exactly.  To make matters worse, the only one of the four who can be counted on is Sabathia.  Burnett had a terrible year last year and finished with a record of 10-15 and an ERA of 5.26.  Hughes began the year looking like a Cy Young contender, but the league caught up to him a bit before he was eventually shelled in the ALCS against the Rangers.

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Cliff Lee has pulled off a shocker and turned down the Yankees and Rangers in favor of the Philadelphia Phillies, according to reports. Both Texas and New York reportedly were informed Monday evening that stud free agent pitcher Cliff Lee would not be signing with their teams. The Yankees reportedly had offered a 7-year deal worth around $150 million for Lee while Texas reportedly offered a variety of options. Instead of an extremely long-term deal, Lee reportedly is taking a five-year deal from the Phillies.

The move is shocking to say the least. Though we don’t know how much money the Phillies have offered, it’s a surprise that Lee is turning down the big bucks from the Yankees. Lee, who is from Arkansas, did not come across as a player who wanted the spotlight and pressure of pitching for the most popular team in the country. Instead, he is going back to the Phillies, the team to whom he was traded in 2009 and helped send to the World Series.

The Phillies will now have Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels in their rotation. Between them, that’s 3 Cy Awards, 13 All-Star games, 2 NLCS MVPs, and one World Series MVP. The Giants proved you can’t give any team a World Series trophy and that you don’t have to have the top free agents to win it all, but it’s hard to say the Phillies and Red Sox aren’t favored to reach the World Series at this point. What a stunner, and what a coup by the Phillies.

The arms race between the AL East powerhouses Boston and New York has been taken to new heights this offseason after stellar moves by the Red Sox. As a result, the Yankees now have no choice but to sign left-handed pitcher Cliff Lee to combat the additions of lefties Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford by Boston. Lee could not be in a better position to get the deal he wants from the Yankees.

Before the Red Sox’s moves the Yankees were reportedly hesitant to give Lee a seventh year, but that will not be a problem anymore. The Yankees likely would have been the highest bidders in terms of dollars but with the lack of a state income tax in Texas, the Rangers could have offered Lee a similar net compensation. There’s no way that can happen now. Yankees GM Brian Cashman is going to offer whatever it takes and it would seem the Yankees might again pay far more than they have to in order to ensure they get their man.

The Red Sox scored 818 runs last year — second most in baseball behind the Yankees’ 859. Crawford scored 110 runs last year and Gonzalez drove in 101. Crawford also stole 47 bases last year, while Gonzalez hit 31 home runs, only 11 of which came in his former home, power-robbing PETCO Park. Gonzalez hits well to the opposite field and should see a lot of what used to be fly-ball outs to left at PETCO turn into home runs and doubles off-the-wall at Fenway Park.

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