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.
