Cliff Lee Snubs Yankees, Heads Back To Philly

Cliff Lee, back to being a Phillie

Turning down various rich offers, including one from the Yankees, pitcher Cliff Lee has decided to return to Philadelphia. The Daily News reports, "The Yankees received a call shortly before midnight from [Lee's agent Darek] Braunecker, who informed them that the 32-year-old Lee had decided to leave their seven-year offer for about $148 million on the table. The Yankees had gone up a year after originally offering Lee six years for $138 million."

According to Philly.com, "Lee will receive a deal reportedly worth around $100 million over five years with a sixth-year vesting option." However, Lee's agent hasn't confirmed that. Philly.com's Phil Sheridan says, "Well, this just doesn't happen. Highly coveted free-agent athletes take their talents to South Beach, or sign bank-busting contracts with the Washington Nationals. That's just how it is. And then along comes Cliff Lee. By most reasonable estimates, Lee decided to pay somewhere between $30 million and $40 million for the privilege of returning to pitch for the Phillies."

The Post's Joel Sheridan writes, "I suspect even without Cliff Lee the Yankees will come in with the highest payroll in 2011. But the Phillies and Red Sox are going to be close. The Phillies now have as many players making $20 million or more (Lee, Roy Halladay, Ryan Howard) as the Yankees (Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia). The Red Sox (assuming Adrian Gonzalez signs an extension after the regular season opener) signed two $140 million-plus deals with Gonzalez and Carl Crawford. With those payrolls, the Phillies and Red Sox also take on the same staggering expectations and, perhaps, target that always befall the Yankees. Already, Vegas has installed the Red Sox and Phillies atop the odds board to win the World Series."

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By Jen Chung in News on December 14, 2010 1:39 PM

Comments [rss]

Philip

A lost opportunity for the Yanks. But now the Mets are really fucked.

Just Me

I knew he wasn't going to NY after Yankee fans spit on his wife during the playoffs.

boogpowell

Guess his wife prefers puke to spit.

http://gothamist.com/2010/04/1...

Petey

Waiting for the Yankee fans to say how they didn't want him anyway.

JenChungsBaby

This Yankees fan wants a strict salary cap in baseball similar to the NFL's. If the Yanks could sign Cliff Lee within that cap then yes, I'd be happy to have him. But as long as he's out of the American League I'm happy, especially if it torments the Mets.

ANGRYGOD11

We wanted him, but we don't need him to get to the post-season. With Tampa dismantled and The Red Sox questionable, the Yanks should take the AL East without Lee.
It would be nice to have him in the post-season, but not at that price. Besides, he didn't do so well in The World Series.

boogpowell

Only dumb yankees fans would say that. Of course I wanted him. He is one of the best pitchers in baseball. A fan of any team should have wanted him on their team. Yankees stilll have a very formidable team. You win some you lose some.