Totally Numb

I went to bed last night with the news of Clif Lee signing with the Phillies fresh in my mind. It was a shocking turn of events that no one saw coming. I think we all expected Lee to take either the Yankees or the Rangers money. Heck, I expected him to go the Nats before the Phillies. After all, no one had a clue that the Phils were in the chase AND the Phils were the team that traded Lee to Seattle to make room for Roy Halladay, a pitcher they had valued more highly than Lee, just a year ago.

Lee signed with the Phils for what is being reported as a 5 year, $120 million deal with an incentive clause for the 6th year. He left a longer contract and more total money (~$30 m) from the Yanks and Rangers on the table. I amazingly won't have the opportunity to interview Lee on why he is going back to Philly, but I have to assume it has something to do with how he was treated by Yankees fans, how much he disliked living in Texas, how much easier pitching in the NL is and ultimately how he wanted to have a chance to go to the World Series every year. When you think about it, taking the Yankees money would have been easy, but it would not have guaranteed him anything because the Yanks have to fight off the Red Sox every year. The Phils aren't going to have that problem. No disrespect to the Giants, but there is no NL team that comes even close to the Phils now. From Lee's perspective, I think he made the correct choice. There is no doubt about it.

Now obviously the Lee signing means more to me than just the shock value. As a Mets fans, Lee signing with the Yankees would have pissed me off. Seeing him put on the pinstripes after leading the Rangers over the Yanks in the playoffs would have been too reminiscent of trader Giambi cutting his hair and shaving his facial hair to sign with the Evil Empire. Eventually though I would have gotten over it because we would only have to face him once a year. In signing with the Phils, it means that in any 4-game series against the Phils, the Mets will have to face Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels. Combined, the quartet has won 3 Cy Young Awards and 63% of their starts (481 total wins). It is downright frightening.

And still, I can't seem to bring myself to be angry. It's not that I secretly respect Lee for excluding money from his decision. It's not that I like the Phillies or the city of Philadelphia anymore. Nope, it's simply because I am numb right now. The Mets are not close to contending. Omar Minaya has left this team in such a mess that the current administration is preparing to burn the house down in order to rebuild it with a stronger foundation. The Phils are clearly the team to beat. We are clearly a 4th place team. So in a way, why not have Lee on the Phils for the next 5 years? Whats the difference between a 95 win team and a 105 win team? When you're a Mets fan, there is no difference. We still are going to stink. But maybe in 4 years time we will be ready to contend again. And if the Phils don't get any younger, Halladay, Oswalt and Lee will all be over the age of 36. And maybe they will have been worn down from throwing half their games at the sandbox known as Citizen Bank Park.

In addition to the numbness over how bad the Mets are going to be in comparison to the Phils comes the numbness I feel knowing that the City of Philadelphia may finally be on par with (if not better than) the NY with respect to its sports teams. Growing up I always hated Philly, but at the end of the day I knew they couldn't carry NY's jock strap. The Phils were a laughingstock. The Eagles and Flyers always underachieved and the 76ers were just an afterthought. It was fun to hate on Philly because their fans couldn't do anything about it. Since 2008, the Phils have been to 2 World Series (winning 1), the Eagles have won the NFC East twice and the Flyers were one game from winning the Stanely Cup. It has been an unprecedented run of success; one that I think finally needs to be discussed. Philadelphia isn't the same. It actually has good sports teams. And that is simply depressing. I have no other words to describe it. I am depressed and numb.