The Cliff Lee Saga

[Impossibles]

Rumors flooding the twitterverse that Lee may be close to signing with the Phillies.

Oh the drama.

[Kingdom]

Did Philadelphia steal money from the Bank of ARod?

[HollywoodLeo]

I'd almost rather he sign with the Yankees than to see the Phillies essentially steal Halladay at the cost of losing Lee for only one year.

[Kingdom]

The internet is blowing up right now, that he took a 5 year deal with Philly. Again, where did this money come from? Philly mob bosses? Aren't they buried in contracts for Halladay, Howard, Oswalt, and Rollins?

Then again, it's the internet, I still want concrete proof.

[Slyder]

MY GOD that is sick! I know I have joked about my rotation in S3SL before but when Cole Hamels is your #4....

Philly's rotation just went from being sick to being unrighteously freaking unfair! If they stay healthy those four BY THEMSELVES (recordwise) may get more W's than more than half the league!

[Kingdom]

Good news, Brad Lidge is still the closer.

[GiantsFanatic]

Lincecum-Cain-Sanchez-Bumgarner can compete with the Phils rotation.

But I have to admit, Phillies rotation is better than the Giants, this is kind of similar to the D'Backs in 01 with Johnson and Schilling 1-2, but even better with Oswalt and Hammels!!!!!!!

[Slyder]

How long before Lincecum's arm blows up? Saw some hints of that during the season and I agree with Porter's take....

PorterMariners (1:08:44 AM): Lee = Lineceum
PorterMariners (1:08:47 AM): Halladay > Cain
PorterMariners (1:08:53 AM): Oswalt > Sanchez
PorterMariners (1:08:59 AM): Hamels > Bumgarner

They don't have the track record of the Phillies Rotation.

For Cincy to even enter the conversation they MUST have the following happen:
1) They MUST get Greinke regardless and have him be 09 model.
2) They MUST have Aroldis Chapman come in and pitch like David Price IMMEDIATELY.
3) They MUST have 2 of the other guys step in and absolute DESTROY stuff.

[NYgiantsfan5689]

The Reds need to make Chapman a starter, and keep him there through thick and thin. Anything else would be an absolute waste of talent. Trust me. I went through Joba Chamberlain. What a waste

[Slyder]

The Reds need to make Chapman a starter, and keep him there through thick and thin. Anything else would be an absolute waste of talent. Trust me. I went through Joba Chamberlain. What a waste

Thats what I mean. David Price was a starter after a debut in the pen during the playoff drive that Tampa went to the series on.

[GiantsFanatic]

How long before Lincecum's arm blows up? Saw some hints of that during the season and I agree with Porter's take....

PorterMariners (1:08:44 AM): Lee = Lineceum
PorterMariners (1:08:47 AM): Halladay > Cain
PorterMariners (1:08:53 AM): Oswalt > Sanchez
PorterMariners (1:08:59 AM): Hamels > Bumgarner

They don't have the track record of the Phillies Rotation.

For Cincy to even enter the conversation they MUST have the following happen:
1) They MUST get Greinke regardless and have him be 09 model.
2) They MUST have Aroldis Chapman come in and pitch like David Price IMMEDIATELY.
3) They MUST have 2 of the other guys step in and absolute DESTROY stuff.

I said they can compete, I never said they were better.

[realmofotalk]

Phillies eliminated the Dodgers in two straight years, so of course it can only mean the Phillies even with Cliff Lee will get KO'd again by the Giants next year. It's ****ing inevitable.

[love_that_reefer]

I was completely shocked to wake up this morning and see that Lee signed with the Phillies over the Rangers and Yankees who both offered more years and money and for that, I applaud Cliff Lee The Phillies now have the best rotation in baseball but that doesn't bother me one bit as the Giants beat all of them to win the WS. The Phillies definitely made the right move in making Lee a priority over Werth. They still have some holes to fill but they should be in no rush to do so. They just came out of nowhere and snagged the best FA pitcher.

Slyder, Lincecum's arm is not even close to falling off. Last year it was his mechanics that caused him to have one bad month. Have no worries my friend, he's still one of the best in all of baseball.

[Foster]

Apparently Lee started the talks with the Philies, it's where he wanted to go.

[HollywoodLeo]

That's awesome. My respect for Lee just shot up 10 fold.

When you can make more money than you can spend just about anywhere go where you want to go instead of whoring yourself to the highest bidder just because it's a larger number.

I don't foresee any professional athletes taking it to the extreme that I would (I'd gladly take 8-10 mil per to play in San Diego if I was in Lee's shoes...) but him leaving 50 mil on the table and initiating the talks with Philly to take less (even though it's still a shit load) is probably as close as we'll ever see to that.