the cliff lee sweepstakes

[craig01]

Great rotation.

Thank goodness he didn't go to NY.

[Flash3]

Lee is a special case, IMO. Usually if you throw a briefcase of money at plenty of FAs, they'll sign. Lee, as it's coming out, has a lot of special cases as to why he chose Philly. (Son?)

[bigboy1234]

Everyone here does know the Phillies did in fact offer the best contract, right?

Here is the breakdown of the contracts offered to him:

Code: Select all

Total   Y   AV   Team
132.5   5   26.5   Phillies
147.5   6   24.6   Phillies
132   6   22.0   Yankees
148   7   21.1   Yankees
138   6   23.0   Rangers
161   7   23.0   Rangers

Maybe he should have taken the Rangers deal, but maybe that 7th year option wasn't really attainable, so that is why Lee choose the Phillies.

[Wavy Q]

so are the Phillies going to be running a 4 man rotation, if they're trying to deal Joe Blanton? Not sure thats the best thing with an all 30 year old pitching rotation, but we'll see.

[Stanford]

I'm assuming they're just going to sign someone cheap, or bring someone up from AAA. Maybe Todd Wellemeyer is available!

They're definitely not going to run a four man rotation all year.

[RIPskaterdude]

No! Wellemeyer is Giants property! Without him, the Giants would have never won the Series!

[Dirty Water]

They could cycle a four man rotation and have a rotating 5th spot starter so that guys can pitch with 4 days rest no matter what.

for instance if theres 4 straight games, then a day off, then 9 straight games they could go:

Halladay, Lee, Hamels, Oswalt, off day, Halladay, Lee, Hamels, Oswalt, SPOT STARTER, Halladay, Lee, Hamels, Oswalt, off day, Halladay, Lee etc.

Takes away a start from that #5 guy and gives it to the Big 4 without anyone losing a day of rest. If I were the Phillies I'd just trade Blanton and bring back Jamie Moyer. He's older and would suit him pretty well if he could be that #5 guy would give him the rest he needs.

[cochiseuofm]

Everyone here does know the Phillies did in fact offer the best contract, right?

Here is the breakdown of the contracts offered to him:

Code: Select all

Total   Y   AV   Team
132.5   5   26.5   Phillies
147.5   6   24.6   Phillies
132   6   22.0   Yankees
148   7   21.1   Yankees
138   6   23.0   Rangers
161   7   23.0   Rangers

Maybe he should have taken the Rangers deal, but maybe that 7th year option wasn't really attainable, so that is why Lee choose the Phillies.

Yea...I also don't know why people don't seem to notice the Phillies made the best per year offer. For as much as the Yankees claimed they wanted Lee, they made a pretty weak offer for him compared to the Rangers and Phillies. I always thought the Yankees were going to make an offer far and above any other team...but they simply didn't do it.

[Wavy Q]

yeah this myth that Lee took less money to play where he wanted to and should be commended for that is total garbage.

[Stanford]

It's just fun to think that someone stuck it to the Yankees is all.