A Great Catch
Philabuster is a blog about Philadelphia sports written by Philadelphia Inquirer sports columnist Phil Sheridan.
A Great Catch
Phil Sheridan, Inquirer Columnist
Well, this just doesn’t happen anywhere, but certainly not in Philadelphia.
Cliff Lee, by most reasonable estimates, decided to pay more than $40 million for the privilege of pitching for the Phillies. That’s the rough difference between the contract he agreed to and the reported numbers offered by the New York Yankees.
The result: The 2011 Phillies may begin the season with the single greatest pitching rotation in the history of Major League Baseball. Hyperbole? Not at all. In Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt and Lee, the top four starters include two Cy Young winners and three guys who won MVP awards in postseason series. All four are in their prime.
One caveat: Remember who we’re dealing with here. Ruben Amaro Jr. was the guy who blew your mind by acquiring Halladay last year, then broke your heart by flipping Lee in a trade the same day. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that Amaro sees Halladay and Lee as his top two starters and will look to move either Oswalt or Hamels. In that case, it would almost certainly be Oswalt, although he does have a no-trade clause.
I don’t bring that up to be a buzz-kill. Just trying to cope with the stunning turn of events that saw the Phillies re-acquire Lee when the entire universe thought he would sign with the Yankees.
Remember the days when everyone eventually signed with the Yankees or Red Sox? They are officially over. And your Phillies are unofficially the team to beat in 2011.
Remember Spahn and Sain and pray for rain? How about Halladay, Lee, Oswalt, Hamels and pray for the opponents?
Unbelievable. Can’t wait to hear Amaro and Lee explain how this all went down.
WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!— DON17- A team that actually cares about championships in Philly. Wow Amaro surprised me with this one. Great Job— phillyking22
- HOLY COW— TommyGun
It's good to be from Philly!!!!!- Wow!!! I am stunned.— phillyinsd
- This is April fools in December, right??? Shocking is an understatement...— betsy72
- RAJ deserves some serious props for this one. Fat Joe must be the odd man out with either Worley or Kendrick as the #5. If Lee took a $40MM paycut to be in Philly because he loves teh town and the fans then he too deserves a lot of credit.— Philalawyer
Speechless...— Hame of Famer
ROY HALLADAY, CLIFF LEE, COLE HAMELS, ROY OSWALT!!!! MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL, YOU'VE BE WARNED...(boggles the mind just rattling that rotation off)- RAJ just redeemed himself. Now to trade Ibanez, Blanton and Kendrick for a right handed left fielder, put Brown in Right, and bring Worley up.
Merry Christmas Philadelphia! Santa came early.— ngfs66 - Yes Philadelphia there is a Cliff Lee-claus. Gave up $40 million to play here. This just doesn't happen in sports today. This guy is amazing. The sickest rotation in MLB history. Cannot wait, Ruben is a genius and Jason Werth is a dope.— John663
- Ruben, you just made my whole winter!— dtonyiv
- Merry Christmas Phillie Fans. Amaro redeemed.— leecee
- I love how much Lee hates the Yankees. Trading him to Seattle was genious, it gave him a taste of what baseball outside of Philly could look like. Lee obviously enjoys playing the Yankees in the World Series, where every game is epic and he's in a safe enough rotation where everygame he pitches wont decide a series. I'd love to hear his thoughts on the trade though. I bet that really opened his eye's!— BentLogic
- Werth took the money and ran (I wonder if he is trying to opt out of his contract as we speak..) Lee wants a championship. Amaro, I mean...wow. Speechless. This guy since he took over for Gillick has traded for Lee, traded Lee, signed Halladay, trade for Oswalt and signed Lee.— ESFjellin
