Cliff Lee Signing Makes Philadelphia Phillies Team To Beat in 2011
According to reports, Cliff Lee will sign a five-year $120 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies . It was common thought that he would either be wearing a New York Yankees or Texas Rangers uniform next season.
Although it would seem that Philadelphia came in at the last minute to get Lee, perhaps they didn't. The Phillies may have been the team he wanted to play for all along, and that could explain why he didn't jump on the Yankees and Rangers offers during the winter meetings.
Lee's signing will create a domino effect for the remaining free agents.
Here are five bold predictions on the impact Lee's signing will have on MLB in 2011.
5. Yankees Will Grossly Overpay To Bring in a Starting Pitcher
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The New York Yankees aren't used to putting six-year $138 million offers on the table and watching it just sit there for a week. Now they watched their offer get declined as Lee returns to Philadelphia.
The Yankees will now most likely reach deep into the pocketbooks to go after either Carl Pavano, Brad Penny or even bring back Andy Pettite. They may also try to trade for Zack Greinke or Matt Garza.
Whichever course of action they choose, they must add another arm behind CC Sabathia if they plan on competing in the division as well as the playoffs.
4. Texas Will Not Return to the World Series
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Everything is bigger in Texas, disappointment included. After three trips to Arkansas to attempt to persuade Cliff Lee, he still chose to sign with another team.
The Rangers would have had a steep journey to return to the World Series even with Lee, but without him, they can forget about it. They may be able to make the playoffs again, but without his postseason heroics, they will not make it out of the ALDS.
3. Boston Red Sox Are the Favorites in the American League East
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With the Red Sox additions of Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford, they will be a vastly improved team from last season. Not bad for a team that was injury-plagued in 2010 and still managed to stay competitive in the American League East.
The Yankees losing the Cliff Lee Sweepstakes and the Rays dismantling are also factors that play strongly in the Red Sox favor.
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2. Philadelphia Has the Best Starting Pitching in Baseball
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Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels.
With those four pitchers in their rotation, the Philadelphia Phillies will be very sound on the mound in 2011. Even if one or two of these pitchers gets into a slump, they still have the other two to depend on.
While teams are struggling to determine whether or not to start a pitcher on three days rest, the Phillies can keep their rotation pitching as scheduled. They could realistically have four pitchers on their roster with 13 wins or more.
1. Philadelphia Will Have Best Record in 2011 and Are Favorites for World Series
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The Phillies have been the most dominant team in the National League in the last four seasons. They have won the NL pennant in 2008 and 2009. They have also won the National League East every season since 2007.
This tradition will not end anytime soon. The Mets are still an organizational mess, and the Braves are starting to come back to form.
The Phillies still are the most dominant team. They finished 2010 with the best record in baseball and added the one of the best postseason pitchers in the league.
With the arsenal they will have on the mound, anything short of a World Series title will be a failure for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2011.
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