CLIFF LEE NEEDS TO MAN UP

Not technically, but kind of. Especially if you read Jon Morosi's piece today titled Phils' Lee prepared for another trade.

In it, he maps out the question every year surrounding Cliff Lee.  When the Phillies start losing, will Lee be part of the trade talks around the deadline?  I wrote about it too in HERE COMES THAT CLIFF LEE RUMOR AGAIN. It was crystal clear to me that if the Yankees, or Red Sox, or any other team needed pitching help, they would reach out about Lee.   I was crucified by readers who commented and believed that I was out of touch.  Let me state that on BYB, I like to ask questions, engage you, not enrage you, but this was a good one:

OK, sure. Maybe the CC "buddy" thing is a stretch, it's more about the competitive nature of the team you go to, but if CC is the extra comfort, so be it. That's what I thought at least.

So what's my point? My point is I'm not the only one thinking about this trade for Cliff Lee.  That brings me back to Jon Morosi. There was an interesting part of this that Jon points out when it comes to Lee and his name swirling around in trade rumors. The no-trade clause. As Morosi writes:

"You wonder if Lee is thinking, 'Here we go again.' In fact, he is. 'Yeah, pretty much... Nothing I can do about it, so I’m not going to get too caught up in it.'

That’s not entirely accurate: Lee can do something about it. His contract with the Phillies includes a 20-team no-trade clause. Only nine teams can acquire Lee without his permission. So if the Phillies make him available in the days leading up to the July 31 deadline, he could limit his market to roughly one-third of the major leagues.... While Lee didn’t want to discuss specific teams with FOXSports.com, major league sources say most of the 20 teams subject to the provision are projected trade-deadline 'buyers.'  The New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles are among the 20 teams that would need Lee’s permission to acquire him, the sources told FOXSports.com. Of that group, the Rangers and Orioles are of particular interest."

In other words, if the Yankees reached out and Lee said "OK, let's do this", it's a done deal as long at the Phillies like what the Yankees are giving up in return.  If Lee said "No way, my wife hates New York", well, he ain't coming. I guess as a player it's nice to have that kind of protection in your contract, but, for the love of God, this is baseball! This is hardcore competition... if you can go to a team that will make it to the playoffs down the stretch, how are you NOT hungry for that?

It's all very interesting and while many of us are not in love with the idea of Cliff Lee in pinstripes, you have to wonder what the future holds for guys like Phil Hughes and Ivan Nova as part of our rotation.  You have to wonder if David Phelps has the stones to work 7 innings consistently down the stretch.  You have to wonder if Nuno can be stretched out, or Andy Pettitte can stay healthy or if CC Sabathia can get some more velocity.  You know what? When it worded like that... well, we could use Cliff Lee.  With that no-trade clause though... I'm not sure I'm counting on it.

Kudos to Morosi on a good piece.

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