Cliff Lee Placed on Waivers

[scOtt]

Why even waste time discussing this? There is no way Peter is going to pay the amount of money he is due to a pitcher.

I completely agree with you... no way Pete signs off on this. Hell..... no way DD even goes there IMO. But talking/debating/arguing is what we do here. Improbable or not. Every scenario, every move, every available or "available" player for us, every play, every decision, every AB, every pitch.

[Tx Oriole]

Well they havent really signed any significant players in the past 10 years besides their own

Well say hello Mr. Chen and Mr. Hammell.

[DrungoHazewood]

From what I have heard and read, Lee is in great physical shape - he's a horse, a physical-fitness guy, etc. I see no reason why he can't perform at an elite level through the rest of his contract.

I don't think there is much of a correlation between being in excellent shape and having a long, elite career. Or even extending one's peak. All kinds of rotation anchors were in great shape, pitched 180, 200, 220 innings like clockwork. Until they didn't. Like Andy Benes, Scott Erickson, Pat Hentgen, Chuck Nagy, Jason Schmidt... Yes, Lee could throw 220 innings a year until he's 42. Or he could tear a rotator cuff tomorrow and essentially be done. Even older, established pitchers get hurt and/or lose effectiveness all the time. You don't care so much if the guy is making $2M a year, but if it's $25M that's another story.

Lee would be great to have, but he is a risk, and I don't really feel like bailing the Phillies out of their financial over-exuberance. I kind of like the fact that their 2015 payroll is over $85M, even though they only have a handful of players under contract. That should keep them from being real players in free agency then, for players we can properly value then, instead of guessing three years prior.