Cliff Lee is returning to the Philadelphia Phillies, turning down an extra US$50 million from the New York Yankees to rejoin the team that traded him a year ago.
The free-agent pitcher reached a preliminary agreement on a US$100 million, five-year contract with the Phillies on Monday, a person familiar with the deal said.
The agreement is subject to the 32-year-old left-hander passing a physical, the person said on condition of anonymity because the agreement was not final.
PHOTO: EPA
The Yankees and Texas Rangers had been considered the front-runners, but the Phillies wound up with the most-prized free agent of the offseason, reaching a deal that gives them a dominant rotation that likely is the strongest in the majors.
Lee, the 2008 AL Cy Young Award winner, joins reigning NL Cy Young winner Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels in a fearsome foursome.
After Lee helped the -defending champion Phillies reach last year’s World Series, he was sent to Seattle in a four-team, nine-player trade last Dec. 16 that brought Halladay to Philadelphia. Halladay signed a new contract that added US$60 million over three seasons, the same average salary Lee will get.
Seattle traded Lee to Texas in July and Lee pitched the Rangers into the World Series for the first time.
Lee and his family had a good time during his stay with the Phillies, who acquired him from Cleveland in July last year.
“At first, I didn’t believe it. I thought we were working out an extension with the Phillies,” Lee said the day after the trade. “I thought I’d be spending the rest of my career there ... I was under the impression they wanted to keep me there for a long time. In my mind, it was going to happen.”
After advancing to the World Series in consecutive years, the Phillies were upset by the eventual champion San Francisco Giants in this year’s NL championship series. Earlier this month, outfielder Jayson Werth left Philadelphia for a US$126 million, seven-year contract with the Washington Nationals.
The Yankees and Cleveland received telephone calls on Monday telling them they were out of the running, two separate people familiar with those team’s negotiations said, also on condition of anonymity.
New York had started with a US$138 million, six-year offer to Lee, the person familiar with the Yankees’ negotiations said. After outfielder Carl Crawford agreed to a seven-year, US$142 million deal with the Boston Red Sox, New York immediately increased its offer to Lee to US$150 million over seven seasons, the person said.
With Lee’s departure, the Rangers could move closer Neftali Feliz from the bullpen to the rotation and may attempt to acquire last year’s AL Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke in a trade from the Kansas City Royals.
This was a rare instance in which the Yankees’ financial might failed to land a player they wanted. After losing to Texas in the AL championship series, they are seeking to add pitching to a rotation that includes C.C. Sabathia, Phil Hughes and A.J. Burnett.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was