Cliff Lee

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.

Cliff Lee has signed with the Philadelphia Phillies one year after they traded him to the Seattle Mariners. The Phillies are the favorite to win the National League and World Series, right?

Wrong.

After the 2009 World Series, the Phillies set their sights on fixing their holes and begin prepared for the 2010 World Series. Philadelphia fell short, dropping the NLCS in six games to the San Francisco Giants, despite adding Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt.

The reports are starting to come in that star-pitcher, Cliff Lee, has decided to take fewer years and less money, to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies. In doing so, Lee has turned down the opportunity to rejoin the Texas Rangers, where he won the American League Pennant, as well as turning down the chance to join the New York Yankees. 

For both the Rangers and the Yankees, Cliff Lee was the number one priority of the offseason; so now what do these two teams do? 

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.

Surprise, surprise...coveted free-agent ace Cliff Lee has signed with his former club the Philadelphia Phillies.  According to multiple media outlets, the 32 year-old All-Star hurler will make a return to the team who he helped lead to the 2009 World Series and reportedly has agreed to a five-year, $120 million deal with a vesting option for a sixth year.

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.

I'm sure Cliff Lee had a nice little weekend in Arkansas, doing whatever it is that people in Arkansas do.

Couples boar hunting with Kristen? Smoking a pipe on a porch? Waiting out a tornado in the cellar?

My understanding of landlocked American states is extremely limited.

And while I may be ignorant in the ways of the "The Natural State" (thanks Wikipedia!), I do know that Arkansas' best pitcher didn't announce this weekend where he'll be playing baseball for the next seven years.

The Boston Red Sox effectively dominated the Winter Meetings, landing both Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez. 

Their lineup is loaded, and have a deep rotation looking to have a bounce-back year in 2011.  The Yankees, meanwhile have stood steadfast, and have yet to make a significant move besides re-signing Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.

With the AL East's balance of power currently shifted in Boston's favor, the Yankees will no doubt strike back, resuming baseball's Cold War.  Here are 10 possible moves the Yankees can make to turn back the tide:

The New York Yankees fan base was in a state of bedlam yesterday afternoon, when there were reports on Twitter circulating and stating that Cliff Lee had rejected the Yankees offer. Immediately, the reaction was that Brian Cashman should throw more money in the deal. But later on, the rumors settled down as many did not know what to believe. Beat writers told fans to be careful what was out there and what they read.