Cliff Lee signs with the Philadelphia Phillies……

Right mound. Wrong team. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

After days of hand-wringing by fans of the Yankees and the Rangers, the Cliff Lee saga came to a stunning conclusion when the Philadelphia Phillies landed their once and future lefthander. According to reports, Lee will sign a five-year deal worth approximately $120 million guaranteed with a vesting option for a sixth year. The Yankees, for the first time since Greg Maddux signed with the Braves nearly 20 years ago, are left empty-handed as the Number One item on their Hot Stove wishlist slipped away to a mystery team.

For the Yankees, this shocking turn of events caps off a week and a half of rumors galore. The baseball world had held its breath over the weekend as Lee debated whether or not to take an offer to remain in Texas or join the Yanks. Still, rumblings of a mystery team would not die, and according to numerous reports, the Phillies leaped into the fray this weekend when Lee made it be known that he was itching to return to Philadelphia.

After all of the hours of silence and the countless cries of “what does it mean,” the Yankees are once again left Lee-less. Perhaps they dodged a bullet when the Mariners backed out of a trade that would have sent Jesus Montero to Seattle in exchange for Lee. Perhaps the Yanks would have gotten just four months of Lee and six years of pining for Montero. We’ll never know, and we’ll leave that hand-writing to the Rangers who got their first World Series appearance but gave up Justin Smoak in the process. They’re arguably worse off than the Yankees today.

For the Bombers, the only question that remains — and I say only heavily — is about the future. What comes next? Were the season to start tomorrow — and it does not — the rotation would feature CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes, A.J. Burnett, Sergio Mitre and Ivan Nova (if the club, as rumor has it, is intent on keeping Joba in the pen). Come Opening Day, that won’t be the rotation. The Yanks will court Andy Pettitte and hope that he has enough faith in his aging body to take the ball for another year.

But beyond Pettitte, what’s out there in the great unknown of the trade market? We saw the Blue Jays surrender Shawn Marcum for Brett Lawrie. So we know that trades can be made and pitchers acquired. We hear that the White Sox will shop Mark Buehrle, that the Cardinals may make some arms available, that Zack Greinke, despite the Yanks’ concerns about his mental make-up, can be had. We think the Marlins might part with Ricky Nolasco, and we don’t know about countless other pitchers. We know injuries guys like Brandon Webb remain available. We know that the Yanks have money and prospects. They can make a deal.

So we’ll lick our wounds and perhaps rock ourselves to sleep tonight. The Yanks and their millions rarely lose out. They offered Lee $148 million — six years at $22 million with a seventh year player option for $16 million — and club officials now believe Lee never wanted to come to New York. That’s the way the cookie crumbles. What happens next will be a test of GM Brian Cashman, and the 95-win Yanks who missed the World Series by two wins this year will be just fine by the time pitchers and catchers report. Lee will always be the one who got away.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

December bombshell: Lee signs with the Phillies

Cliff Lee is going back to the land of cheesesteaks.

BD Hot Stove Breaking News: Lee Going Back To Philly | Baseball Digest

Cliff Lee was obviously the story of last night, and rightly so, since so many Yankee fans assumed the Yankees would sign him. Yet I don’t find myself all that upset with the developments; $100+ million contracts are rarely a good idea and the Yankees have already given out plenty of them. And it’s not like Cashman didn’t try – he offered Lee the best deal. Lee took something else. Whatever, you move on.

So what have I had on my mind since the Lee news broke? Joba. I know I’ve wasted far too much time writing about him already, but I can’t help it. His descent from being the Yanks top prospect to being nothing more than an afterthought continually perplexes me. Why did the Yankees waste so much time making him a starter only to turn him back into a bullpen piece? If they really think he’s a reliever, why didn’t they trade him for Dan Haren?

None of it makes sense, but the thing is there is still time. Yes, Joba has been inconsistent the past 2 seasons, but we’ve seen flashes of him as a dominant starter. In 2008, Baseball America predicted Joba would be the Yankees’ future #1 starter. Now we don’t think he can even be a #5? It’s only been 2 years since then and believe it or not, Joba still has that kind of upside. Remember, when Chien-Ming Wang was Joba’s age, he had never thrown a pitch in the majors; yet CMW was the Yankees erstwhile ace for a couple of seasons before his unfortunate injury.

Unless Joba has some sort of injury issue, there is absolutely no reason not to give him another crack at the rotation. His upside is much greater than Ivan Nova and miles ahead of Sergio Mitre. Really, what do the Yankees have to lose at this point? He can always go back to being a middle reliever and honestly, his stock can’t fall much further anyways. So rather than making a panic trade or an ill-fated signing, the Yankees should look to fill from within first. It wasn’t long ago we envisioned Phil Hughes and Joba leading the Yankees’ rotation for years to come and, at only 24 and 25 years of age respectively, they still can. Cliff Lee, after all, had not yet thrown 100 innings in the majors when he was 25 and he didn’t have a really good season until he was 29. If the Yankees are really serious about getting younger, they need to show patience and moving Joba back to the rotation is the place to start.

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The Yankees lost out on their top offseason priority in Cliff Lee yesterday and let’s face it – it hurts. He wasn’t just part of the plan for them this offseason, he was the plan. So what does this mean?

The first thing it means is that Andy Pettitte is about to get a lot richer. Pettitte has been said to have been leaning toward retirement all offseason, but now that Lee is out of the picture for the Yankees he becomes extremely important. If he does retire the Yankees would be set to go into 2011 with CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Phil Hughes, Ivan Nova, and Sergio Mitre in their rotation. Not pretty and considering how the Red Sox have improved this offseason the AL East titled could be crossed off. So expect Pettitte to get a call from GM Brian Cashman soon.

For now let’s assume Pettitte is coming back though. The Yankees still have a rotation hole to fill. If they do that internally they could use Ivan Nova or Sergio Mitre. They could transition Joba Chamberlain back to the rotation, but both Cashman and Joe Girardi have stated that he is a reliever only going forward. Hector Noesi is also a possibility as well. Out of the Killer B’s (Andrew Brackman, Dellin Betances, and Manuel Banuelos) only Brackman is even close enough to be considered out of spring training and even he is a longshot.

Let’s face it though, these are the Yankees, they hate missing the playoffs and the last time they went with a rookie in the rotation, 2008, they missed the playoffs. So they will try to make a trade to bolster the rotation. Zack Greinke is the biggest name out there, but so far they seem uninterested in him. There aren’t a whole lot of obvious choices out there that are readily available after him though so another no. 1 type is out of the picture. Maybe guys like Derek Lowe, Mark Buehrle, or even Chris Carpenter are possible so the Yankees could go that route.

Any trades they make would either deplete the farm system, add a lot of money to the payroll, or both so if Pettitte does return they may look to try one of the younger guys and use the money they had tabbed for Lee to stock the bullpen. They could still add Kerry Wood and another impact arm or two. This would make it less risky to go with a guy like Nova. They also could then wait for a pitcher to hit the trade market that they really like instead of one that they are merely settling for. I’m talking about guys like Josh Johnson or similar pitchers who aren’t expected to be traded this offseason but could sometime in the future.

It is possible they could dip into the free agent market for a pitcher on a one-year deal or sign a high risk type as a stop gap and hope that the Killer B’s develop by next season. There are some intriguing free agent pitchers left like Brian Bannister, Justin Duchscherer, Rich Harden, Kevin Millwood, Brad Penny, and even Brandon Webb to name a few (Mark Prior too if you want to get really daring). Each of these guys individually aren’t very impressive, but if one or two were signed then maybe one of them would stick and have a big season for the Yankees. The Yankees have already expressed interest in Harden and Prior.

So far though we’ve assumed that Pettitte was coming back. If he doesn’t though that’s when Lee signing with the Phillies will really hurt. The Yankees could miss the playoffs in 2011 or Cashman will make multiple trades or signings that could potentially negatively impact the longterm health of the franchise or both.

If Pettitte retires then the Yankees will feel more pressure to trade for Greinke. This could work out well if they trade some prospects, guess right on which to deal, and he pitches wonderfully. It could also work out badly if they deal Brett Gardner, Jesus Montero, one of the Killer B’s, and more and Greinke folds under the pressure of New York. Then not only will the Yankees empty the farm, but they could be doing it for a pitcher who doesn’t even help.

Even if they make a trade that doesn’t blow up in their faces they could still be dealing away pieces that turn out to be real gems. Then for years we’ll be cursing Lee’s name while Betances strikes out 10 batters a game for the St Louis Cardinals for the next six years.

If Pettitte retires and they try to go the free agent route to avoid dealing their top talent it could burn them too. That may come in the form of short deals that just don’t work out. It may also come in the fact that the Yankees feel pressure to add veteran talent and have to over spend in either money or years for mediocre pitchers. Down the road that would take away roster flexibility and even block paths for pitchers like the aforementioned Killer B’s.

Sorry if this sounds a little gloom and doom. I’m just running through scenarios here. Realistically if I had to guess I’d imagine that things don’t go so poorly for the Yankees.

They’ll probably express to Pettitte how important he is to the team and he’ll re-sign for something like $12 million. They’ll spend some money and improve the bullpen and bench. Then they’ll essentially be returning in 2011 with the same team that in 2010 won 95 games and coasted into the playoffs. Sure the Red Sox have gotten better, but it is only marginally as they did lose big bats in Adrian Beltre and Victor Martinez. The Rays also lost a long list of players and have taken a big step backward. If they get some unexpected contributions from rookies they may have no problem making the playoffs in 2011.

The 2010 team was just two games from a trip to the World Series and the 2011 team could look very similar. Add Montero to that, get a bounce back season from Jeter, and health down the stretch from Nick Swisher, Mark Teixeira, Brett Gardner, and Pettitte and the 2011 Yankees could beat anybody including the Red Sox.

All we can do at this point is wait for the rest of the offseason to unfold, hope that Pettitte has one more good season in him, and hope that the rest of the moves Cashman makes are smart for both the short-term and long-term success of the team. Isn’t that what we do every year though?

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More photos » Matt Slocum – AP

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We will update as news comes through, but according to Jon Heyman, Cliff Lee will not sign with the Yankees. T.R. Sullivan reports that Lee will not go to the Rangers, and is going to the Phillies.

Yankees offered 7 years, $154 million, according to Buster Olney. Lee is signing for about 5 years, $100 million according to Joel Sherman. Lee must really like Philadelphia.

Rest of the off-season should be interesting now. We already have heard that the White Sox love the Yankees prospects and there could be trade possibilities there.

Update by jscape (12:20 EST): Two quick thoughts for you night owls-

(1) Now I’m really glad the June Montero-for-Lee deal fell apart.  Imagine if the Yankees had traded away their best prospect for a rental.

(2) I’m sure there are going to be 100 posts about pitchers the Yankees should go get- I’ve been tempted to write a couple dozen myself.  Try to remember that in December, every team is a contender:

The Rays won the division, the Red Sox were ravaged by injuries but have a new LF and 1B, the Blue Jays boast some of the best young pitching in the AL, the Orioles came on strong in September.

The Twins won their division, the Tigers added a new shortstop and a new catcher, the White Sox went all in returning their vets and bringing in Adam Dunn, the Indians’ only regular over 30 is Travis Hafner and their pitching staff grew a lot last season.

The Rangers walked away with their division, the Mariners’ offense can’t get worse, neither can the Angels’ infield, and the A’s pitching staff is one good step away from scary.

None of those teams plan to announce ‘we’re punting this season’ before season tickets go on sale.

Via Tyler Kepner –

Nobody wants to be unemployed around the holidays, but Clifton Phifer Lee of Little Rock, Ark., does not seem to mind. The Yankees, the Texas Rangers and, now, the Philadelphia Phillies are eagerly awaiting Lee’s decision on where to continue his career, at $20 million or more per season.

“They have not made any decision,” Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman said Monday night. “Same as yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that. He’s evaluating all his opportunities, whatever they are.”

The latest opportunity is probably what is taking Lee so long. The presence of the Phillies — his team at the end of 2009 — was especially troubling to the Yankees.

Privately, the Yankees were growing pessimistic as the night went on, believing that Lee might really be headed to Philadelphia for fewer years and less money.

The Phillies’ policy is never to guarantee a pitcher more than three years in a new contract — not even Roy Halladay, who signed a three-year, $60 million extension after his trade from Toronto last December. But Lee loved his time in Philadelphia, and the Phillies, who have already shed the contract of Jayson Werth, could lose more payroll by dealing starter Joe Blanton.

Give credit to Jon Heyman for sharing days ago that there was a “mystery team” in the hunt for Cliff Lee – along with the Yankees and Rangers. And, give credit to Joel Sherman for being the first – as far as I know – to bring the Phillies up, earlier today. And, all those bloggers, twitters, and other sundry internet comment leavers who scoffed at Heyman and/or Sherman should all now stand up and admit that their desire to ride in the front car of the snarky train now has them looking pretty darn stupid at this junction.