The Cliff Lee Effect On Major League Baseball

One of the most dominant pitchers over the past few years just threw a big curve ball. The difference is that he didn’t have to stand on a mound to do it.

After every sports rumor mill, publications and news sites churned out numerous stories that charted the raging tug-of-war between the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers over pitcher Cliff Lee, it turns out that it was all an illusion that the 32-year-old magically performed. With a swift stroke of his pen, he etches his name on a five-year, $120 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, a team no one ever wrote about in connection with trying to acquire Major League Baseball’s most coveted free agent.

The documentation of the process has been a major headliner in sports since the San Francisco Giants won the World Series. Where would Lee go? What would it take to get him? Everyone knew how bad the Yankees wanted him, offering nearly everything he desired and more. They were willing to give him whatever he craved, even as their captain and face of the team since the mid 90s, Derek Jeter, faced difficulties with management on a new extension.

The Texas Rangers was also willing to shell out virtually all they had, which would have left the team with nothing but lint in their pocket. Knowing he was the reason they got to the 2010 World Series, they felt he was worth every penny they could give. So they matched the Yankees offer with the idea that the money, along with the love of the city and the organization showed him since being traded to Texas, would be enough to persuade him.

In the end though, they both were outshined by the dark horse Philadelphia Phillies.
Even more startling is the fact that he goes back to the team he helped get to the World Series in 2009 for less money and years under contract than both Texas and New York offered.

The Lee signing changes the landscape of baseball for years to come.

1) Philadelphia Jumps To The Favorite, Not Just In The National League, But Of All The MLB.

Despite the loss of Jayson Werth to the Washington Nationals, the Phillies appeared to still be a strong contender in their division and league. Sure the Nationals moved up the chain in the NL East, but they are still light years away from challenging the Phillies’ for the division title. The New York Mets, Florida Marlins, and Atlanta Braves all have done little to improve their roster, so labeling Philadelphia the favorites is still a no-brainer.

Now, with Lee joining a staff that boasts 2010 Cy Young Winner Roy Halladay, three time all star Roy Oswalt, and 2008 World Series MVP Cole Hamels, the Phillies have the best rotation in baseball and are a clear cut to win the 2011 World Series. With the core of their line-up returning in Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, and Shane Victorino, the Phillies merely substitute the big bat of Werth for a dominant pitcher in Lee.

And, if there was anything the Giants showed not only the Phillies, but to most of the baseball world, it’s that pitching leads the way to championships.

2) The New York Yankees Now Take A Backseat To The Red Sox

As the off season continued to progress, it was obvious that the signing of Lee was a big necessity if the Yankees wanted to remain favorites in their own division. With Boston signing five-tool outfielder Carl Crawford and trading for a middle of the lineup hitter in first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, New York desperately needed to make a splash.

The transaction to validate that would have been signing Lee.

Getting Lee would have given the Yankees the best one-two pitching combination in baseball with C.C. Sabathia. The emergence of Phil Hughes last season also helps as a strong third option in their rotation. The acquisition of Lee would have also been a stronger influence for 38-year-old Andy Pettitte to return, knowing that he would be the key to getting another title in New York.

Now, the Yankees have merely a mediocre rotation and are only the second best team in their division. Their arch-rival Red Sox are out in front early on, breathing a sigh of relief that Lee burned the Yankees.

3) Texas Rangers Sent Back Into Mediocrity

While the Yankees still appear to be a viable playoff contender despite not getting Lee, the Rangers look like they are stuck in a maze with no path leading to a way out.

The main reason (and some would contend the only reason) the Rangers got as far as they did last year was because they had the six-foot, three inch lefty taking throwing for them. He led a pitching staff whose track record doesn’t qualify nearly as close to Lee’s credentials.

C.J. Wilson converted to the starting rotation after five seasons as a reliever. Tommy Hunter is only 24-years-old and has yet to pitch over 130 innings in a season. Colby Lewis is a journeyman pitcher who returned this past season to the Major League after two years in Japan. Losing Lee makes the pitching staff mediocre at best, which has got to make Rangers fans cringe with the powerful lineup they put out consistently.

The loss also doesn’t certify Texas as the obvious front-runner for the AL West it would have been had he signed with them. Luckily for them, the three other teams (Angels, A’s, and Mariners) are still quite inferior to them. The Angels seem to be the only team capable of knocking off the 2010 Division Champs, as the A’s and Mariners continue to rebuild for the future.

Yet, now the Rangers can clump themselves in the same category as their other three rivals, despite still being the early AL West favorites, as a weaker team entering 2011 now that Lee is heading back east to Philadelphia.

It’s hard to believe that Lee’s transaction would have such a rippling, domino-effect on the world of baseball. His signing shifts the balance of power in various divisions of baseball and will no doubt change the outlook of the league for years to come.

Hard to believe that a pitcher can throw change-ups in baseball, even without hurling a single pitch.

Did NY Yankees Lose ALCS in July?

On the afternoon of July 9, the New York Yankees were on the verge of finalizing a blockbuster deal to obtain the most potent arm-for-hire in recent memory; and all it would have cost the organization is top catching prospect Jesus Montero.

But a funny thing happened on the way to Cliff Lee’s reunion with former Cleveland Indians teammate CC Sabathia. A team that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May of this year, with no World Series appearances in its 38 years of existence, trumped the most valuable franchise in Major League Baseball.

In the closing stages of the race to acquire left-handed ace Cliff Lee from the Seattle Mariners, the Texas Rangers placed rookie first baseman Justin Smoak and three minor league prospects on the table to virtually steal Lee from right under the noses of the Bronx Bombers.

Surprisingly though, the two-time All-Star and 2008 Cy Young Award winner failed to deliver the goods in his fifteen regular season starts for the Rangers. Prior to the trade, Lee was 8-3 with a 2.34 ERA and an eye-popping strikeout-to-walk ratio of 14.8. For Texas, Lee was 4-6 with a 3.98 ERA and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 8.0.

However, despite Lee’s sub-par showing in his regular season stint with the Rangers, Texas still managed to win the American League West by the widest margin of all the divisional winners. And by using the momentum of a 21-6 June to propel them into the playoffs, the stage was set for the baseball world to witness the real reason the Rangers went the extra mile to keep Lee from joining the Yankees starting rotation.

In five postseason starts as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies last year, Lee went 4-0 with an ERA of 1.56, 33 strikeouts and only six walks. Most notably, two of Lee’s victories came against the New York Yankees in the World Series, the only two wins for Philadelphia in the 2009 Fall Classic.

This postseason has seen Lee pick up right where he left off, winning two games in the American League Divisional Series. Among those victories was a decisive Game 5 victory at Tropicana Field to help Texas eliminate the Tampa Bay Rays, the team that finished with the best record in the American League.

Now Lee will take his 2-0 record, 1.13 ERA and 21 strikeouts to the American League Championship Series for a Game 3 start and a potential Game 7 start against the team that ended up as the runner-up in the negotiations for his services.

Assuming there is no end to Lee’s postseason brilliance in the foreseeable future, at the very least, all C.J. Wilson, Colby Lewis and Tommy Hunter, who comprised the fourth best pitching staff in the American League this season, have to do is collect two wins in five games to guarantee a Game 7 start by Lee.

In any case, it goes without saying that the presence of Cliff Lee will loom large in the ALCS as the Yankees' ‘Chase for 28’ marches on; a chase that may have been destined to fail on that fateful afternoon of July 9. And in retrospect, by beating the Yankees at their own game of acquiring a marquee star, the Texas front office assured the franchise its best chance to appear in the World Series for the first time in team history.

The feather in the cap for New York is they have beaten a team with a starting rotation anchored by the seemingly indomitable Lee, with last year’s World Series against Philadelphia being the case in point. However, their concerted efforts to acquire Lee from the Mariners this season indicated a lack of interest in going down that route again.

But the Yankees’ plans to avert what is the current reality were spoiled by Texas and now the ALCS will tell the story of the true impact of their trade deadline loss to the Rangers for the services of baseball’s best postseason pitcher.

Click here to read the original article on Examiner.com, which includes relevant links and a special video preview of the American League Championship Series between the New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers.

Yankees Close To Acquiring Cy Young Winner Cliff Lee

Since the New York Knicks failed in their efforts to persuade LeBron James to bring his talents to the Big Apple, the defending World Series Champions have taken it upon themselves to provide some sort of consolation to the city in the aftermath of ‘The Decision’.

According to NYPost.com, the New York Yankees are closing in on a deal to obtain Seattle Mariners ace Cliff Lee for a package that would include top catching prospect Jesus Montero.

With the Minnesota Twins, the New York Mets and the Texas Rangers still in talks with Seattle, the Yankees are not assured of consummating the trade but, within the past twenty-four hours, the Bronx Bombers have emerged as the clear front-runners in the race.

This season, the 31-year-old Lee, a two-time All-Star and a 2008 Cy Young Award winner, is 8-3 with a 2.34 ERA and an eye-popping strikeout-to-walk ratio of 14.8. For his career, the Arkansas left-hander is 97-55 with a 3.86 ERA.

After spending seven seasons with the Cleveland Indians, Lee was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies last season, along with outfielder Ben Francisco, in exchange for Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald, Jason Knapp and Lou Marson and became an integral factor in Philadelphia’s run to a third consecutive National League East Title. In addition, Lee’s solid pitching performances in the 2009 postseason nearly resulted in a second consecutive World Series Championship for the Phillies.

However, after falling to the Yankees in the 2009 Fall Classic, Philadelphia decided to exchange one Cy Young Award winner for another when they traded Lee to the Mariners and acquired Roy Halladay from the Toronto Blue Jays in a three-team trade.

Now that Seattle has fallen out of playoff contention and Lee set to become a free agent at the end of the season, the Mariners are looking to deal the coveted starting pitcher before the July 31 trade deadline.

For their part, Seattle is looking for top catching prospects in return, which is the reason why Jesus Montero, an elite hitting prospect in Triple-A, has become a bargaining chip that is working in the Yankees’ favor.

The report indicates Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik wanted to make a move before the All-Star Break so, before the end of the weekend, Lee could potentially reunite with his former Indians teammate C.C. Sabathia on the New York Yankees.

Imagine that.

The Yankees already own the best record in Major League Baseball without Cliff Lee. Therefore, adding another ace to their pitching staff will turn New York into the overwhelming favorites to win the American League (AL) East, the AL Pennant and the World Series.

Click here to read the original article on Examiner.com, which includes relevant links and a video of a memorable pitching performance by Cliff Lee.