What If... (Part Two)

After inquiring what would have happened if the Reds had kept Josh Hamilton, I couldn't help but wonder about the Reds season again, after watching Cliff Lee dominate the Yankees in Game 3 of the ALCS last night. Lee threw 8 shutout innings, and struck out 13. He now has pitched 24 innings this postseason and is 3-0 with 34 strikeouts. In 8 career postseason starts, he's 7-0 with a 1.26 ERA and 67 strikeouts in 64 1/3 innings. Wow. No one, and I mean truly no one, compares to what he has done in the playoffs.

What if the Reds had acquired Cliff Lee?

This isn't as farfetched as you might think. Just four days before he was shipped to Texas, there was an Enquirer article (here: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100705/SPT04/307050053/Reds-interested-in-acquiring-Cliff-Lee) about how the Reds had talked to the Mariners about Lee in mid-June.

Lee would have garnered at least one impact bat, an impact pitcher, and another good player. A Yonder Alonso, Travis Wood, and Juan Francisco deal would have gotten the job done. Parting with Alonso and Francisco would have been no big deal. But Wood? That's a tough call. Would they have taken Homer Bailey over him? Maybe.

Is a potential 7 years of what you will get from Wood worth the 3 months and the postseason from Cliff Lee?

The Rangers would tell you yes. They're on a run towards destiny right now.

And the Reds are stuck at home watching. Obviously Lee doesn't make a difference in Game 1 of the NLDS for the Reds. Halladay was all but perfect. You can't beat that. But what if the Reds had won just two more games with Lee? Then they're playing the Braves in the NLDS.

Could they have won that?

We don't know the answer, but we see what might have been by watching these Rangers now.