| Douglas Benton. 16th December, 2010 - 7:50 pm
 Cliff Lee was a World Series star for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2009 and after a 2010 that took him to Seattle and Texas, he is back with a five-year, $120 million contract. The marquee pitcher on the free agent market turned down offers from the Yankees and Rangers to head back to the National League.
The resume for Lee speaks for itself. He has pitched at least 212 innings in each of the last three seasons and his ERA hasn?t been higher than 3.22 over those seasons. In that time, he has pitched in two World Series and developed a reputation as a quality big game pitcher despite the most recent World Series where he made two subpar starts.
He isn?t an overpowering pitcher, but has excellent control with just 18 walks to 185 strikeouts last season. Lee had his struggles in 2007, but at 32-years-old, he appears to be in full swing for his prime years. While Citizen Bank Park is a hitters? park, Lee has experience pitching there with success.
The addition of Lee gives the Phillies a potential historic starting rotation of Lee, Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt with equal balance of righties and lefties. Philadelphia has relied on a powerful offense to much of its recent success, but with the departure of outfielder Jasyon Werth to Washington, expect to see a shift back to relying on this pitching staff.
There was much talk leading up to free agency about how many years a team should invest in a pitcher that is already 32-years-old, but Philadelphia seems to have found a good median ground with five years and an option for a sixth year. While it is a big money investment, Lee is worth it to secure a shot at the World Series for at least the next three years. The only question about the signing is whether the Phillies should have gone out to add offensive depth.
Grade for Philadelphia: A-
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