From Any Angle, Phillies Big Winners With Cliff Lee

Anyone remember the San Francisco Giants?

You know, the guys in orange and black loaded with pitching and personality. They beat the Phillies only two months ago in the National League Championship Series. They beat up on Cliff Lee in the World Series.

Our West Coast dudes are reigning World Series champions. No matter how many millions of dollars the Phillies or the Red Sox spend on ballplayers this offseason, nothing is decided in December.

True, when the Phillies and ace Cliff Lee reached terms Monday, the phrase embarrassment of riches applied.

"Best pitching staff in the game!" Diamondbacks general manager Kevin Towers texted in reply to FanHouse after Lee, a bona fide ace, joined a rotation that already boasted Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt.

When asked about Lee later on Tuesday, an NL East scout pondered the next few Octobers, and sounded resigned to the prospect of seeing a shade of red too familiar. "You would have to think the Phillies would get close to the World Series for two or three more years," he said.

CLIFF LEE COVERAGE

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Price: Yankees' Options Limited
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Fantasy Impact | $100M Club

Their four pursuers appearing largely incapable of denying them a fifth consecutive NL East title, the Phillies may have more reason to fear an invisible foe. There's age creep on their roster, even with Domonic Brown, 23, penciled into right field as the replacement to Jayson Werth. Father Time always wins--eventually. The four aces have a lot of mileage on their arms. Our scout doesn't see any blinking yellow lights among them, though.

"Halladay is in the prime of his career," he said of the 33-year-old true ace, who won the Cy Young award this year and threw two no-hitters, including a perfect game.

"Lee is a young 32 and is just hitting his stride. Hamels is 26 and is really good. The only guy I saw last year who really wasn't himself was Oswalt (33). I don't know if it was from pitching in the World Baseball Classic the previous year, or pitching for a bad team. But he looked fine after he went to the Phillies."

Among Philadelphia's everyday players is only slight evidence of decline, although many of them are past the typical peak years. Shortstop Jimmy Rollins is 32 and coming off an injury-marred season, as is second baseman Chase Utley, who will turn 32 on Friday, but both still command respect from opponents. The team's top slugger, Ryan Howard, is 31. Left fielder Raul Ibanez is 38.

"The left fielder is getting old," the scout said. "Are the Phillies getting old? Nah."

An American League executive sees age becoming a problem for the Phillies, but not soon. "Barring major injuries," he told FanHouse on Wednesday, "the Phillies should win 100-plus games the next two years. It will be interesting to see what they do in three years from now when the roster gets old and expensive."

My still-fresh memory of the Phillies, though, is of Giants pitchers making their bats look slow.

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Phillies opponents who take the "Moneyball" approach of trying to wait out the starting pitcher could be especially vulnerable now that the ultra-accurate Lee has joined a rotation already adept at forcing hitters to swing. Halladay led the NL in fewest walks per nine innings (1.1) while both Hamels (2.4) and Oswalt (2.1) sustained good career ratios of walks per nine. All three take a back seat to Lee, who'd rather throw right-handed than issue a walk. His ratio of .76 walks per nine a season ago easily led the majors

NL East teams may be wise to emulate the Giants, who showed Phillies pitchers that they were ready to hit early in the count.

"It's dangerous for them when they are throwing a lot of strikes in front of our guys," Giants hitting coach Hensley Meulens told FanHouse after his hitters mauled Lee in Game 1 of the World Series.

Ranking near last in pitches seen this season, the hack-happy Giants, offensively, were the antithesis of the Moneyball A's, their Bay Area neighbors. The Giants defeated Hamels, Halladay and Oswalt in the LCS. Twice they defeated Lee in the World Series. Was it a fluke largely powered by their own good pitching? Should Lee's arrival in Philly further encourage aggressive hitting?

"Their pitchers are going to be around the plate," the scout said. "The problem is, Halladay's stuff moves all over the place. Hamels is up to 94 (mph) and is really good. Lee has four pitches and they're all a little different. Oswalt still has the stuff of a No. 2 starter.

"I'd say, try to get them early before they get comfortable."

It'll be interesting to see how the Mets approach Lee, Halladay and the rest. Sandy Alderson, the spiritual godfather of Moneyball, took over as Mets GM two months ago.

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West Coast Bias says the Phillies ought to stage a California Night next year, with a slice of the ticket revenues coming to the Golden State. (Our government is broke, so any help would be appreciated.) Always remember that without California's aid, the Phils would be just another miserable bunch on the Evil Coast. They'd be the Mets.

Phillies scouts excel in California, and two architects of the team's current run are Pacific 10 guys, Pat Gillick and his protege Ruben Amaro Jr. Gillick is a USC alum recently elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame to honor his many successes as a scout and GM. Nearly a decade ago, the Dodgers had a chance to hire Gillick. Naturally, they blew it.

Amaro, who succeeded Gillick as GM, messed up when he traded Lee last offseason, but the Stanford man was Gillick-like this month in his stealth and manipulation to bring Lee back. As the baseball world waited for Lee to choose either the Yankees or Rangers, Amaro quietly lined up a deal, then brought it home. "You can see that Ruben learned from Gillick," the scout said. "Gillick just strikes. Not a lot of talk. Ruben just did it -- not a lot of talk."

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Lee's agent, Derek Braunecker, scored more than a financial victory when he brokered a five-year deal that guarantees Lee $120 million. Because the Yankees' and Rangers' offers reportedly were higher, Big Media created the first, and therefore lasting, impression with casual fans that Lee was leaving a lot of money on the table.

Player agent Barry Axelrod said there's a PR gain for the player and signing club in such instances. He cited similar less-than-top-dollar deals for his clients such as Rick Sutcliffe, Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio and Darryl Kile but said the magnitude of the contracts made the "sacrifices" insignificant. "In reality, the difference in the money is not going to make one ounce of a difference for your player or your family down the line," Axelrod said Tuesday.

Sutcliffe enjoyed a hero's welcome when he opted to return to the Cubs, rather than accept a larger offer from one of many suitors. Before deciding on Chicago, he said that if he chased the top dollar out of town and went 15-10, he would be booed, but if he took a little less money to go to the Cubs and went 15-10, "they might elect me mayor of Chicago."

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Hamels was among the many winners to the Lee deal. "The Phillies have made it a policy of not going beyond three years for a pitcher," said Hamels' agent, John Boggs. "This breaks that landmark. But I'm sure the Phillies would say that, in this case, the player they were signing is a free agent."

Hamels is due $9.5 million next season, the final year of a three-year, $20.5-million deal. He will be arbitration eligible in November.

Cliff Lee Stuns Baseball World; What Now for Phillies, Yankees, Rangers? Click below to watch video: