Cliff Lee going back to Philly ... this needs its own thread

What's so tough about the question? He liked playing in Philadelphia from a team and organization standpoint, the Phillies have a better chance of returning to the WS than the Rangers, and he didn't like New York.

 

As a Mets fans this should upset me. But it doesn't since the Mets are going to suck anyway and will do nothing to improve themselves this year until a bunch of bloated contracts come off the books at the end of the 2011 season.

As a Yankee hater, I'm ecstatic.

 

I'm glad they didn't get Lee because it's better for the game.

 

It's great he didn't wind up in New York.

It's even better that he didn't wind up in Boston either.

 

When someone hits, say $100 million or so, $30 or $40 million doesn't make all that much of a difference.

A quarter of a million or less would make a big change in my life. Not someone such as Lee.

Good for him for going where he wants to go instead of just looking at the numbers.

 

I think he should have gone to a Boys and Girls Club and had a televised announcement.

 

you know, i thought that, too. but i think that factor is more of an influence on mediocre pitchers than star pitchers. nope, given the disparity in the yanks/rangers offers and philly's offer, ya gotta believe lee went with the team/city which made his family the happiest. no way to criticize him for that.

i mean, taking 'just' 100 mil/5 years instead of 140/7 yrs or 120/6 yrs ain't exactly sentencing your family to a future on welfare. yeah, i know these egomaniacs are supposed to be all about braggin' rights regarding contracts, but seriously, lee is pretty sure he, his children and his children's children have no financial concerns.

 

It's smart. Pitching in the NL is easier than in the AL. With that pitching staff, the Phillies seem capable of winning the division title more often than not and he doesn't have to deal with the circus that is the NY Yankees.

 

I don't think Lee wanted any part of the potential circus in New York.

Had he come to the Yankees in a blackbuster deal at the trade deadline and gone five consecutive starts with no wins, not getting past the sixth inning and posting a 8.28 ERA (as he did in Texas in August) he would have been booed out of town and viewed as the next Ed Whitson by the insane Yankees fans.

 

Taking My Talents to South Street

 

Spnited, life with Philadelphia sports fans has never been considered a bed of roses for a nonperforming athlete, or even a high performing athlete who doesn't meet what aren't rational, let alone reasonable expectations. Ask Mike Schmidt, Donovan McNabb, Eric Lindros or the ghost of Wilt Chamberlain. The notion the Yankees exact a unique psychic toll on its players is just one of the infinite number of bogus ways New Yorkers flatter themselves.

 

That's my opinion too, Cran; that it's a baseball decision, not a salary or a family/location decision. When Lee speaks, however, he may bring the latter consideration into the picture. Clearly it's not about salary.