In an absolutely stunning turn of events, Cliff Lee has agreed to a 5 year, $100 million deal with his former team: the Philadelphia Phillies. Reports claim that he declined an offer from the Yankees worth $150M over 7 years. There are reports that there'll be an optional 6th year, or a very heavy buyout.
This is simply unbelievable. The Yankees offered him an average of $21.4 million per year (the Phillis is a $20M average, in case you suck at math), and for 2 years longer. Lee's contract will expire when he's 37 years old. So it's not like he's going to get another massive payday.
He must really love something about the Phillies, and/or dislike something about the Yankees.
As a Sox fan, this is the next best thing to signing Lee. Not only is he out of our division, he's out of our League! The Sox play the Phillies a few times in interleague play, but they won't have to compete with them for a playoff spot. So unless the Sox make the World Series, we don't have to worry about facing Cliff Lee in a truly important game.
Also, the signing of Crawford is looking even better today. The Sox paid a bit extra, but they've gotten him. If they hadn't locked that down as soon as they did, the Yankees might be courting him right now.
The Yankees can't be feeling too good today.
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