Cliff Lee Headed Back to Philadelphia?

We've all been talking about the Cliff Lee sweepstakes and where he might end up. However, the only two teams that always come up are the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees.

But there was a mystery team that continued to hang around. Some thought it was just a tale being told to force one or both teams to up their offers but there were others who continued to insist that there was a third team with an offer on the table.

Earlier this evening, it seems that third team came to light and according to SI.com's Jon Heyman it was the Philadelphia Phillies.

Here's where things get tricky.

The Phillies don't have near the offer that the Rangers and Yankees do and according to rumors floating around, it's somewhere in the neighborhood of $70 million less than the other two offers. That's a large chunk of change to leave on the table.

However, if Lee does end up signing with Philadelphia which seems to be close to a foregone conclusion, than he can honestly say it was never about the money.

If this does come to pass, the Phillies will definitely have arguably the best pitching rotation, at least on paper, in baseball history.