Cliff Lee

The reacquisition of Cliff Lee this week was the latest in a series of moves the Philadelphia Phillies have made this offseason that brought former players back to the fold.

Ryne Sandberg, Juan Samuel, and Mickey Morandini, all retired players, have returned after long absences from the team.

Spring training may still be two months away, but the cold winter months have had little success subduing MLB's offseason hot stove.

The fall of 2010 has been an eventful one in the baseball world, even with the free agent class being as thin as it is.

As always, there are some teams that have added tremendously to their chances of World Series title contention in 2011, and plenty more that have been set back further, whether by their own missteps or by the unexpected choices of those they pursued (cough...Cliff Lee...cough).

BY: ANTHONY BARATTA

December 14^th, 2010

“Start spreading the news….

 I’m leaving today….

I want to be a part of it….

In old….??Philadelphia??”

“The stars at night…

Are big and bright…

When the Mariners traded Cliff Lee to Texas last July, the focus was on having Justin Smoak as part of that package.

Unfortunately, much of the talk from that trade has not been the potential of Smoak, but the issues that come with one of he other pieces of that deal.

Josh Lueke.

Perhaps it's the beard.

He just didn't want to shave it on someone else's terms. Not even for all the extras the pinstripes were throwing at his wife...I mean him. Can you blame the guy?

Was Cliff Lee scared of New York? He says no, according to the New York Post. 

The New York Post quotes Lee: 

"There wasn't anything that scared me away from New York," 

Now that Cliff Lee has finally made his decision, spurning superior offers from both the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers, we can move on.

Lee has joined a starting rotation that already includes last season's Cy Young winner, Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels.

Let me just start by saying that I do not want to be writing this article. 

It's no question that the best rotation in the MLB belongs to the Philadelphia Phillies.  They started this offseason with Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels.  Now, the Phillies have lured Cliff Lee into their rotation.  Does this give them one of the best rotations of all time?  Let's take a look at baseball's greatest rotations, and you can decide for yourself.

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Cliff Lee is officially a member of the Philadelphia Phillies. The papers have been signed and sealed. Now it’s up to Lee to deliver.

The organization is counting on him to do just that, to the tune of a cool $120 million.

Cliff Lee was officially introduced as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies this afternoon in a press conference at Citizens Bank Park. 

Given the extreme interest in the pursuit of Lee, the offseason's most prized free agent, this comes as huge news to fans of the Phillies and Major League Baseball. 

With the way Lee's five-year, $100 million deal went down, there were plenty of things to learn in the official introduction of the star left hander.

Here's what we learned: