On one hand, good for you Cliff. For once, a baseball player decided to take less money to go to the place he really wanted to go. All along, everyone believed Lee wanted to return to Texas. It seemed apparent he wasn't going to New York, but the Rangers were essentially offering him the same as the Yankees. Somewhere around that $140 million range. There had always been a "mystery team" involved, but no one knew who. Until last night, when Lee inked a 5 year deal worth $120 million for the team he led to the World Series 12 months ago. Apparently, despite having Roy Halladay, the Phillies realized how much they missed him.On the other hand, this nearly makes the Phillies unbeatable with that starting rotation. Two time Cy Young Roy Halladay is the ace, followed by postseason hero and Cy Young Cliff Lee, followed by former 20 game winner and 3 time All Star Roy Oswalt. Last but not least, former World Series MVP Cole Hamels. Oh. My. God. Really? It looks nasty, doesn't it?
Despite pulling off the heist of the offseason, I'm not about to hand the World Series trophy to the Phillies. Why? Because I still think the Braves can give them a run in the East. Tim Hudson, Tommy Hanson, Jair Jurrjens, and Derek Lowe aren't a bad foursome. Neither are Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, and Madison Bumgarner for the Giants (who beat the Phillies, remember). And those St. Louis Cardinals still loom with Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, Jaime Garcia, and Jake Westbrook. Should they make it to the World Series, what if they play the Red Sox? Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, and John Lackey don't look too bad.
So, it's far from over. As we saw last year in the World Series, Cliff Lee was beatable. And remember: this guy rose up from nowhere three or four years ago. He could just as easily fall back there in two years. He's not 23, he's 33. And Halladay is older. So is Oswalt. Let's see if they can all keep throwing in the mid 90's for much longer. Finally, that Phillies offense looked on the decline at times. Where has Chase Utley gone? Ryan Howard didn't look like he was worth $125 million. And Jimmy Rollins was a no show with that bad wrist and hamstring. Now Jayson Werth is gone. How effective will that once brilliant offense be? All of these will be answered in time. Just don't hand Philly that World Series trophy quite yet...
All this being said, the NL Championship runs through Philadelphia once again. The Reds now need to set themselves up by being able to beat both the Cardinals and the Phillies. How do they do this? By doing nothing. Wait them out. The Reds are built for the long haul, the Phillies and Cardinals, much like the Cubs of three years ago have put a lot of big contracts on 30+ year olds. That rarely holds up. Ask the Yankees of the early and mid 2000s. I would love to see Walt Jocketty acquire Zack Greinke from the Royals, but it would cost too much. And they wouldn't be able to give him a contract extension, because then they couldn't afford people like Cueto and Votto. Even with his current salary, giving new extensions would be made difficult. The Reds won the NL Central last year by building from within. They're now standing pat, and it's the right thing to do. Let your own ace develop. Whether that's Chapman, Bailey, or Volquez, just let it happen. It's what the Phillies did three years ago with Hamels. They built from within, and they won it all. Maybe the Reds can follow suit.
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