Cliff Lee to the Phillies? Aww... Poor Yankees...

How about them Yankees? They lose out on Adrian Gonzalez (Boston), Carl Crawford (Boston) and Cliff Lee (Philly)? Oh, but they did attain catcher Russell Martin, so they have that going for them and they signed Jerek Deter (as some people refer to him) to a rather expensive contract for a guy that is increasing in age and decreasing in production both offensively and defensively. So, that's too bad. I always hate it when the all-mighty New York Yankees aren't able to woo all-stars with the ridiculous contracts.

With regard to the Phillies, let's calm down with the immediate claims that this will be the best rotation since the Atlanta Braves of the '90s (Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Steve Avery). Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee are two of the premier pitchers in all of baseball. If healthy, that will arguably be the top 1-2 punch in any rotation in all of baseball. But, we can't predict what their health is going to be. Halladay has thrown 200+ innings for how many consecutive years now? He's thrown how many complete games in both Toronto and Philadelphia? I'm not saying the guy is going to get hurt anytime soon, but due to all the innings he's pitched in recent years, we can't rule out that possibility. Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt would be the 3 and 4 starters in the rotation. Again, these are two very qualified starting pitchers, but let's not forget that Hamels hasn't been the most consistent pitcher the past three years and Oswalt has a history of injuries. On paper, this rotation looks outstanding, but let's not jump the gun quite yet. There's a 165-game regular season yet to be played (and playoffs). It's a rarity for any team's rotation to remain in tact for a full season and the same will likely be true for the Phillies this year and in the years to come. On paper, Philly, both offensively and pitching-wise, appear to be one of the best teams in baseball, but as the saying goes, that's why we play the games. I can't remember how many times the before-mentioned Yankees were loaded with top-of-the-line talent, yet when it came right down to it, what they had in talent they lacked in chemistry and they failed to accomplish their goal - a World Series ring.