Yankees Giancarlo Stanton is the Anti-Cliff Lee

Falling Off of a Cliff

In radio interviews immediately after the deal was completed, Cliff made it clear that the reason he chose the Phillies over the Yankees is that he wanted to go where he felt he had the best chance to win.

He backed those comments up three years later in a 2013 interview with The Inquirer and philly.com:

"Lee became an addict to the postseason after those two years and thought it was what he was getting into when he signed a 5-year, $120 million deal with the Phillies in December of 2010."

"But afterward, Lee was clearly not content with the state of a team he expected to be a regular entrant into the playoffs. “The past year and a half hasn’t gone the way I would have anticipated,” Lee said. “It’s why you play the games.”"

"“I definitely want to win -there’s no doubt about that,” Lee said when asked if he wanted to remain in Philly. And what if the team is still going nowhere fast a month from now? “I want to win,” Lee repeated. “I don’t know how else to say it besides that.”"

Ironic as Hell

By the time he made those comments, the Phillies had regressed. Lee had appeared in just one playoff game, and the team was now a disaster (73-89); Cliff wanted out.

When he signed, the stories were all about giving up the money for love. Now, he made it clear the primary factor was winning. After all, the city still loved him, even if attendance had declined, but Lee now wanted to leave.

You better believe that, had Brian Cashman called to work out a trade at that moment, Cliff would have been all for it. And that’s because Lee proved to be a far better pitcher than prognosticator.

Reason to Believe

His plan started perfectly in 2011, his first year back in red and white stripes. Philadelphia went 102-60, while the Yanks posted a 97-65 mark; each club won its division.

Of course, the difference was that Cliff Lee was in Pennsylvania putting up an ERA of 2.40 with 238 strikeouts (SO) in 232 innings pitched (IP). The Yankees were forced to counter with RHP Bartolo Colon, whom they still have the option of countering with today.

They absolutely will not do that, but that they can is noteworthy.

For his one-year stint, Colon posted the very decent 4.00 ERA. But he only contributed 164 IP with 135 SO. Not bad, but Lee would have improved the team. Coincidentally, both clubs were eliminated in their respective divisional series’.

But then their fortunes diverged.