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For weeks, the baseball world has been waiting on the edge of their seats for the decision by Cliff Lee.  The assumption had long been that Lee would milk his free agency for every last dollar, likely spurning the Texas Rangers, who he had helped lead to their for World Series just weeks earlier, for the New York Yankees. 

MLB Rumors are starting to turn into fact.

Cliff Lee has a familiar new home for the 2011 season (and far beyond).

Where does that leave Zack Greinke, who many would consider the next in line to be shopped to a contender?

But Greinke and Lee aren't the only ones out there who could be changing addresses.

As free agency continues on there will be much more dealing by general managers desperate to make their team better.

Many Phillies fan's rolled out of bed this morning and had to pinch themselves to make sure they were not dreaming. 

Next, came a glance at the calendar to verify that they had not time travelled to April Fool's Day. 

And when all that was done, the reality hit like a freight train, only in a good way.  Sleepy eyes widened and fans began to jump for joy! 

Cliff Lee is back!

Sports Irreverence and More from The Other Tip of the Goldberg

This will teach me to go to bed early and avoid the news from 9:00 PM on.

Hey, I was spending some quality time with my two year-old son. We can joyously read and play together until midnight, and my boy will still want more Q-time from my wife and me.

Throughout the entire hot stove season, all that people heard about Cliff Lee was the Yankees and Rangers.

Lee will go to New York because of the money; Lee will stay in Texas because of the familiarity with the organization and how close the state is to Little Rock, AR.

But what about returning to the Phillies?

Well, it is finally official.

Cliff Lee is signed sealed and delivered to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Including all option years, Lee was offered a total of $148 million by the New York Yankees and $161 million by the Texas Rangers. Surprisingly, the Rangers offered MORE total dollars than the almighty Yankees.

Around 12:30 this morning, my phone buzzed with an e-mail alert, one I was not ready for and expecting.

According to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com, Cliff Lee has just agreed to sign a five-year deal for about $115 million with the Philadelphia Phillies.

The deal, according to ESPN's Jerry Crasnick, has a vesting option for a sixth year in Philadelphia.

In one of the more surprising developments of the baseball offseason, Cliff Lee has decided to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies. Lee's deal with the team is worth $115 million over five years. This signing comes as a surprise as most people expected Lee to either stay in Texas with the Rangers or sign with the New York Yankees.

According to ESPN's Karl Ravech and confirmed by other sports news outlets on Twitter, it appears the Texas Rangers are aggressively going after former Boston Red Sox third baseman, Adrian Beltre.

The Cardinals sent offensively anemic shortstop Brendan Ryan to the Seattle Mariners on Sunday, receiving fireballer Maikel Cleto in return.

Ryan became dispensable earlier this offseason when the Cardinals added shortstop Ryan Theriot.