Lee: 'I never wanted to leave'
In his opening remarks, Cliff Lee acknowledged what everyone had seemingly known since he left almost a year ago to the day.
Lee: 'I never wanted to leave'
Daily News Staff
In his opening remarks, Cliff Lee acknowledged what everyone had seemingly known since he left almost a year ago to the day.
"Here I am. I never wanted to leave this place in the first place," Lee said during a jam-packed news conference at Citizens Bank Park. “To get an opportunity to be part of this team and this pitching rotation is going to be historic, I believe. I can’t wait to get to spring training."
Lee signed a 5-year, $120 million deal with an option for a sixth year along with performance bonuses. He turned down more money from both the Rangers and the Yankees.
"It’s plenty of money," Lee said. "When you get a certain point, enough is enough. It's just a matter of where you are comfortable, where your family is comfortable … This is about winning championships and this team gives me the best chance to do that at this point."
Lee said the Phillies “got better after I left,” reciting the moves the team has made since he was dealt to Seattle last December.
“This is a special place,” he said. “With what we’ve got on paper and the personalities that are around and the guys on this team, good things are going to happen.”
Lee disputed reports that an incident with Yankees fans and his wife, Kristin, had an impact on his decision not to go to New York. Lee said there are overzealous fans in every city and he would have had no problem playing for the Yankees.
"Let me clarify that thing," he said. "That was way overblown. No one came up to my wife and spit on her. You go to any stadium, fans start cheering, especially in the postseason, fans are going to say something, they're going to do things like that. That story was way overblown, it was false, and had zero to do with anything. Hopefully we can put that behind us because it was a non‑issue."
Lee said he thought it was between the Rangers and the Yankees, but things changed over the last 4-5 days. "In the back of my mind, I was always hoping it was a possibility," he said.
Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro said Lee and his agent came back to the Phillies and expressed that the Phillies were the team he preferred and “that helped move things forward for us.”
"I think for me to be here kind of says enough," Lee said. "I never held any grudges for being traded. I understand it's a business and things like that happen. But from the moment I got here, from the first day, I knew it was something that was special, something that I enjoyed. You know, I wasn't sure if I was going to get another opportunity to come back or not. The way things played out, I got that opportunity and here I am. When you sit back and evaluate your options, you get a chance to pitch in this rotation, with Halladay, Oswalt, Hamels, I mean, that's all I needed to see right there. Give me a real option to do that, that's it. That was the main thing, getting a chance to be part of that rotation with this team and what they've kind of established in the NL East, being the leader there. With this team, it was kind of a no‑brainer for me.
Amaro was asked if in the back of his mind, he thought there might be a chance to get Lee following his trade.
“Yes, actually," he said. "Fact of the matter is we all know what kind of impact Cliff had for us. He was extraordinary for us. We had an opportunity to do some different things and to acquire one of the best pitchers in baseball and keep him in our system for a long time. Frankly, did I want to move him? No. But I'm certainly pleased we had the opportunity to get him back."
Amaro called this a “special circumstance” a number of times and said it was “too important to the present and the future of the organization not to move forward.” The Phillies have been reluctant to give pitchers more than a 3-year contract. When they acquired Halladay from Toronto, they gave him a 3-year extension beyond the year he had remaining on his deal with the Blue Jays.
Amaro said he spoke with Halladay before things progressed with Lee.
“We went out of our element a little bit here,” Amaro said. “When you get into this realm of years and dollars it gets a little unwieldy … . We put ourselves in position with the staff that we assembled to add to it in this way could make it really special. With his physical condition, the nature of the marketplace, this was the right thing for us to do … It took a lot of poking, prodding and introspection. At the end of the day, we felt this was the right thing for the organization and the right thing for Cliff and his family.”
Amaro conceded the Phillies might not have been able to sign Lee had Jayson Werth accepted the team’s offer. “I don’t think I would have been smart enough to do both.” He referred to Werth as “our former rightfielder” and said if a choice had to be made between Werth and Lee, he was confident “we made the right one.”
Amaro said he talked about a belief in pitching and defense as priorities.
Lee and Werth are close friends and Lee said they talked about going to the same team in free agency.
“When he found out I was coming here, he wasn’t the happiest person in the world,” Lee said, diplomatically.
Lee said he liked the intensity and the volume of the city. He mentioned the fans not needing a message on the scoreboard to know when to cheer. It also ends a whirlwind in which Lee played for the Indians, Phillies, Mariners and Rangers in the last two seasons.
“It’s a good thing to know that you’re settled and being in one spot for a while,” he said. “I know I’m going to be here for five years and we have to make the right decision about where to stay and stuff. It’s definitely part of the process. I hope this is going to be where I end my career and no more getting traded and getting traded. I enjoyed that too, getting to play with some of the best players in the world … Now I get a chance to come back to the place that I felt was the right fit for us. It’s been a fun ride. I’m looking forward to it. I think we’re going to be able to do some good things.”
As for additional moves and flexibility to improve other part of the team, Amaro said there was “no flex.”
“I’m very comfortable with the club going into spring training,” he said.
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I want Chooch to have my babies.— s- Before this announcement, would you have said that the Phillies #1 priority was starting pitching? I doubt you would have. Remember that Cliff Lee began the season with Seattle on the DL; that he went 4-6 with the Texas Rangers down the stretch, during which he got bombed occasionally; he went 0-2 in the World Series, and gave up 9 runs in 12 innings to the Giants. After those stats, are you still happy to be shelling out those dollars to a player who plays every fourth day? For more years than most pitchers last? In 2007, Cleveland sent him down to the minors. This is why Halladay is a better value. Can you name the only other pitcher to start in consecutive World Series for different teams? He also signed for 100+ million after one very good season and some ordinary seasons, and that team regretted it.
- Poor Werth....he gets to face four Aces during the 19 games the Nats have to play us each year for the next 3,4,5 years......he now realizes his numbers are gonna plummet substantially....his comment about "our boy" Lee was an obvious poke at Amaro, who wouldn't pay him what he wanted because he knew all along that he was gonna be a big bidder for Lee.....Werth made his bed now he gets to sleep in it for 7 long years...or until the Nats realize he's dead wood at that salary and send him off to the Yankees in a salary dump in 2 years......mark my words, it will happen. You all read it here first.— Mark1npt
- Real cool Boinga. I grew up in the northeast myself and now live in Austin. This is going to be one pumped team and don't be surprised if the hitting starts again. As for Werth he can suk it, but who wouldn't take 127 Mil? Lee. Go Phillies !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!— TexasYankee
- Cazptain - Kevin Brown? We can at least hope for better than that ... Lee has excellent numbers in DCS and LCS series (shutouts in the latter) and a Cy Young. But he has struggled in the WS. If he helps get us there we have 4 studs to choose the hot arms from. Pitching is always a gamble and I still think lack of RH power could hurt them but I'll take this move.— s
General Lee back on the field, I love it.— Flyboy24- @The Bink...yes the Phils were shut out 11 times this year...however they still were #2 in the league for runs scored in what was obviously a down year offensively due to injuries...meanwhile to put things in perspective regarding shutouts, 11 was the ML Average for the year and the Phils' pitching was #1 with 21 (and that's without Lee and having Oswalt just two months)...
— stan the man too 
One of the worst holiday ads that ever ran was for a company that made watches. It featured a person opening a Christmas present that wasn't the watch featured in the ad and the receiver could barely hide his/her disappointment. They finally got wise and stopped running the ad - it was disgusting. Anybody who has a negative word to say about this Phillies deal right now reminds me of that sorry, graceless ad. It's the height of the Christmas Season and Philadelphia just got a huge gift. Why doesn't everyone on just say Thank You and stop trying to second-guess Santa?
And if you want to savor the occasion even more take some time to read the reports in the New York papers of disbelief that anybody would turn down not only The Yankees but New York itself in favor of being in Philly. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!- This is really great getting Lee back and to think, we get to keep the sack of rocks we got when he left the first time. Great job Rube!— younged
- I love what he said about Phillie fans not needing a scoreboard to tell them when to cheer! What a great day, the Philles resigning Lee and the Flyers beating the Pigeons. Can't do much better that that!— BGarber
- CLIFF BELONGS TO US!!! WELCOME HOME BUDDY!!!— ArtieLange
Lee will beat most .500 and below teams and will struggle against most above .500 teams and he will go down either by injury or via depression after faces the Giants again.- It is sad that the Phillies have become like a Republican corporation where they spend money without thought for all the people that can no longer afford to go for the game. Next year, when the Phillies see hardly any women and minorities at their games, I hope they understand that running their team like the Bush Administration, Big Oil, or Haliburton has done nothing but alienate them from the people that would normally support them but noe cannot afford to go to a game with their children. At least Cliff Lee won't have to worry about the little people since he now stands to benefit from Bush's tax cuts for the rich, which have put America into the worst financial crisis in its history and have caused many women and minorities to be unable to provide the most basic needs for their families.— eldiablodelsol2009
- s
He seems to truly appreciate the fans. Wait until he hears/feels the intensity when he takes the mound at CBP for the first time in 2011.
you do realize he's played here before? or are you just a little slow in comprehension?— sgamble077 - fishthing right, wait till he starts out 2-6 with a 4.5 era, he will surely hear and feel our intensity
or when he's 6-1 with a 1.55 era!are you people just stupid?— sgamble077
