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So Cliff Lee is going to Philadelphia? Like any other self-serving member of the media (such as blogs are considered media), I must immediately tag certain people and teams "winners" while others don the eternal cap of shame known as "losers."
Who made out and who simply is out? Let's see:
Winner: Philadelphia Phillies
This one's easy. A rotation with Lee, Hamels, that Halladay guy, and Oswalt is truly scary! I'd expect to see a fair number of series sweeps for Philadelphia, especially anytime Lee, Halladay, and Oswalt line up to pitch back-to-back-to-back!
Winner: Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox are considered winners for a couple of reasons. First, their arch nemesis the Yankees didn't land Lee - and anytime the Yankees lose out on something, the Red Sox consider themselves winners. Second, it now looks like the Red Sox are by far the most improved team in the AL East. Their acquisitions of Gonzalez and Crawford look really, really good at this point - especially since the Yankees and Rays have either stayed basically the same or gotten worse since the 2010 season ended.
Loser: New York Yankees
New York is swallowing a bit of its collective considerable pride right now after Lee spurned their big dollar offer to return to the City of Brotherly love. Not only that, but as mentioned above, the Red Sox have really ramped up the pressure on New York to do something big - and the way the market looks now, that might not be possible for the Yankees!
Loser: The NL Central and NL West
Does it even matter who wins these two divisions this year? Can anyone (in either division) realistically stack up against the Phillies pitching staff and lineup now? The Cardinals might be able to match them in a pitching match-up in a five game series as might the Padres and Giants, but both of those teams have serious question marks on offense. The Reds have a good offense, but nowhere near the amount of aces as Philly, same with Colorado. The Brewers are probably in the same category as the Reds, and well, the Diamondbacks, Pirates, Cubs, Astros, and Dodgers don't seem to stack up particularly well in either category. The road to the NL Crown goes right through downtown Philly at the moment.
Winner: Cliff Lee
Lee was going to get paid well no matter where he went, but by going to Philadelphia he ended up in a city that adores him (and the team) AND he gets to share the pitching spotlight (and thus, pressure) amongst the other three aces in the Phillies' rotation. Not only that, but by NOT choosing the Yankees, Lee probably gained another large chunk of fans (specifically those in the Boston zip code)!
Winner: MLB
MLB knows it needs more than two crazed cities to keep baseball fresh and popular. By spreading the love out to Philly, there are now crazed baseball hot beds in New York, Boston, and Philadephia (not to mention Washington who is also trying to get in on the big spending). That's three of the largest cities on the east coast that baseball has a firm grip on!
Loser: NL East
Unlike the other National League divisions, the NL East teams have to face the Phillies a whole lot more often - and thus, face Lee a whole lot more often. That's not a recipe for success.
And there you have it: Some off the cuff remarks about the trade immediately following the announcement. I really ought to get paid for this.
Who made out and who simply is out? Let's see:
Winner: Philadelphia Phillies
This one's easy. A rotation with Lee, Hamels, that Halladay guy, and Oswalt is truly scary! I'd expect to see a fair number of series sweeps for Philadelphia, especially anytime Lee, Halladay, and Oswalt line up to pitch back-to-back-to-back!
Winner: Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox are considered winners for a couple of reasons. First, their arch nemesis the Yankees didn't land Lee - and anytime the Yankees lose out on something, the Red Sox consider themselves winners. Second, it now looks like the Red Sox are by far the most improved team in the AL East. Their acquisitions of Gonzalez and Crawford look really, really good at this point - especially since the Yankees and Rays have either stayed basically the same or gotten worse since the 2010 season ended.
Loser: New York Yankees
New York is swallowing a bit of its collective considerable pride right now after Lee spurned their big dollar offer to return to the City of Brotherly love. Not only that, but as mentioned above, the Red Sox have really ramped up the pressure on New York to do something big - and the way the market looks now, that might not be possible for the Yankees!
Loser: The NL Central and NL West
Does it even matter who wins these two divisions this year? Can anyone (in either division) realistically stack up against the Phillies pitching staff and lineup now? The Cardinals might be able to match them in a pitching match-up in a five game series as might the Padres and Giants, but both of those teams have serious question marks on offense. The Reds have a good offense, but nowhere near the amount of aces as Philly, same with Colorado. The Brewers are probably in the same category as the Reds, and well, the Diamondbacks, Pirates, Cubs, Astros, and Dodgers don't seem to stack up particularly well in either category. The road to the NL Crown goes right through downtown Philly at the moment.
Winner: Cliff Lee
Lee was going to get paid well no matter where he went, but by going to Philadelphia he ended up in a city that adores him (and the team) AND he gets to share the pitching spotlight (and thus, pressure) amongst the other three aces in the Phillies' rotation. Not only that, but by NOT choosing the Yankees, Lee probably gained another large chunk of fans (specifically those in the Boston zip code)!
Winner: MLB
MLB knows it needs more than two crazed cities to keep baseball fresh and popular. By spreading the love out to Philly, there are now crazed baseball hot beds in New York, Boston, and Philadephia (not to mention Washington who is also trying to get in on the big spending). That's three of the largest cities on the east coast that baseball has a firm grip on!
Loser: NL East
Unlike the other National League divisions, the NL East teams have to face the Phillies a whole lot more often - and thus, face Lee a whole lot more often. That's not a recipe for success.
And there you have it: Some off the cuff remarks about the trade immediately following the announcement. I really ought to get paid for this.
Comments
I hope Philly enjoys a 32 year old pitcher with back problems for the next five years.
ReplyDeleteDodgers' pitching is just fine.
ReplyDeleteAnd now the Yankees and Rangers are desperate for starting pitching and the Braves have Derek Lowe and his suddenly very reasonable $15 million a year contract ripe for the picking. Muahaha!
ReplyDeleteThe dismissive comment about the Cubs' chances this year in no way captures the absolute disaster that will be every game we will play against Philly this year. -Andy
ReplyDeletelonglive: Yes, there's certainly quite a bit of risk here - but really, there is plenty of risk with pitchers of any age (look at Strasburg for a poor example and someone like Arthur Rhodes or Jaime Moyer for an opposing example).
ReplyDeleteGreg: Perhaps, I can't say I'm sold on their staff...but I'm not sold on my Reds' pitching staff either for what it's worth.
dayf: Hahaha.
Community: Hahaha again!