Lee doesn't just want to win. He went to the World Series this year with the Texas Rangers, one of the teams he turned down to sign here. And the Yankees, with CC Sabathia and that lineup and Mariano Rivera, certainly offered a good chance to win as well as the biggest payday.
Cliff Lee wants to win and, brace yourselves for this, he wants to win here. In Philadelphia. He wants to do it here so much that he took less money and agreed to return to the team that traded him away a year ago.
Thinking back, it's hard to say which move was more shocking: the deal that sent Lee to Seattle last December, just two months after his brilliant postseason performance, or the deal that brought him back in the middle of the night.
The mind reels.
OK, a quick reality check. This isn't meant to be a buzz-kill, but we are talking about Ruben Amaro Jr., the engineer of that regrettable trade. Remember how that went down. One minute, you heard the Phillies had landed Roy Halladay in a deal with Toronto. Before you could finish high-fiving the nearest Phillies fan, you heard the other part. Amaro had flipped Lee to Seattle for three prospects.
So there has to be some chance that Amaro is planning to use one of his other aces - someone not named Joe Blanton - to acquire a righthanded bat or bullpen help or whatever. A chance.
But if not, this is almost ridiculous. The 2011 Phillies would begin the season with what might be the greatest starting rotation in the long history of major-league baseball. Whenever you use a word like "greatest," you run the risk of hyperbole. But not this time.
Cliff Lee, Cy Young winner.
Roy Halladay, two-time Cy Young winner.
Roy Oswalt, MVP of the 2005 National League Championship Series.
Cole Hamels, MVP of the 2008 NLCS and World Series.
They have 13 All-Star Game appearances among them. Two lefties and two righties. Balance, power, finesse, guts. Proven postseason excellence. That is a remarkable combination.
