Cliff Lee: "Shock and disbelief"
Currently on a conference call introducing Cliff Lee as a Seattle Mariner. He does not sound thrilled. Here is a sampling.
Cliff Lee: "Shock and disbelief"
Andy Martino
Currently on a conference call introducing Cliff Lee as a Seattle Mariner. He does not sound thrilled. Here is a sampling.
"My initial reaction was shock and disbelief...Initially, I was disappointed because making it to the World Series was a lot of fun, and I was looking forward to making a third run at it."
"At first I didn't believe it, because I thought that we were working out an extension with the Phillies and I thought that I was going to spend the rest of my career there...This goes to show this is a business, and you never know what's going to happen until you have a full no-trade clause."
Why do you think it an extension didn't work out?
"There was not enough dialogue. (Also) They had an opportuity to get the best pitcher in baseball, and I can't blame them for choosing Roy Halladay over me...I was under the impression they would keep me for a long time."
"I'm going to be as positive as I can, and go over there and try to make it to the World Series with those guys...it's a new chapter. I've got to go to the Mariners and make the best of it. I'm going to go in with an open mind and do everything I can."
Excited at all about returning to A.L.?
"Uh, yeah. I've got to."
What did you like about the Phillies?
"Those guys are the real deal. It was a true team and I can't say enough about them."
***
UPDATE, 8:25pm
Was able to reach Ruben Amaro for a response. "I am not really going to comment on the negotiations, other than what I said yesterday," he said. "There was nothing contentious about our talks, but it may not have led to something we were comfortable with. I would have loved to have kept both guys on the club. It was a matter of, we felt more comfortable with the deal we could do with Roy than the one we could do with Cliff.
"I hope Cliff Lee pitches tremendously well. We would have loved to have kept him, but it didn't look like we were going to move toward that goal."
I already miss him. *sniffle*— cmp1968- Maybe he'll be back after next season:)— fizzbin
Comment removed.- Losing Lee was a stupid move no matter how good Halliday is.— Jame
- if roy does not win two games in the world series next year this deal will be considered a failure.— eagles2010
- B.S. He would have taken the Free Agent Money as soon as next season ended. If he wanted to stay he would have taken a 4 year 70 million dollar extension.— FloridaBrian
- His comments don't line up with reports that he wasn't going to sign with us long-term. What's the deal?— chris duckworth
- did u ask him if he would have taken less to stay in philly...not that it mattered if the phils really traded him for the reasons they said...— dsoul
- Lee can go out there and have the best season possible with Seattle, and then become a free agent. Maybe the Phillies can get him back for 2011. Stranger things have happened.— SteveS11
- I hate to see the departure of Lee. He did a great job for the Phillies last year. May be if he was more vocal with Phillies management about wanting to stay and working out a contract fair for all, the Phillies would have gone in that direction, instead of focusing on trading for Halladay.— PortCity
- With the history of the Phillies I understand why they did what they did. I would be paranoid too, but Cliffs coments make you wonder about what might have been.— RobthePhilsfan
- This whole thing is just bitter sweet, even more so after reading Lee's comments. Love the fact that Philly now has Halladay for next year, and beyond, but definitely sad to see Lee go. He was a great Phillie while we had him, too bad someone else couldn't have been traded instead.— MileHiEagle
- *sigh* The Phillies were Idiots for trading Cliff Lee - sorry, but it just can not be said enough - IDIOTS!— phillydude
- Sounds to me like his agent is one of those shyster types and went behind his back. No matter, I can't say enough good about Cliff Lee. He's a great pitcher and it was an honor to watch him do what he did for the Phils last season. This Phillies fan will never forget it.— Greg V.
- Agree with dsoul. If he was willing to lock in to a long term deal now for a bit of a "hometown discount" that would have been great. But if he was trying to squeeze every last dollar, as reported, then he deserves to play in Seattle.
