The Phillies have shocked the baseball world by signing free agent ace Cliff Lee to a five year deal worth 125 million dollars and a vesting option for a sixth year. The Rangers and Yankees are stunned after being pinned against each other in weeks of intense bidding.
The Phillies improve their rotation ten fold, sound familiar, featuring NL Cy Young winner Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, Lee, Roy Oswalt, and either Joe Blanton or Kyle Kendrick. But does it really matter?
The Phillies are now trying to shop both pitchers fighting for the fifth spot, and whoever can net the best prospect will lose the Phillies last spot in the rotation. Losing Jayson Werth appears to be no big deal, especially after paying essentially the same that the Nationals paid for Werth on Lee.
The Yankees will now be forced to search outside the division for starting pitching help, but won't find any help within the division and are now put in a tough spot to compete this offseason against their division rivals and NL rivals, namely the Phillies.