SFGate

Cliff Lee just shocked the baseball world by going back to the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Texas Rangers and New York Yankees were widely thought to have been the front-runners for his services, but they're now left in the dark after his signing.

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It's the middle of December, and as a blizzard hits the Midwest United States, the baseball hot stove is just heating up.

In the past couple of weeks, the Red Sox have signed Carl Crawford and traded for Adrian Gonzalez. The race to sign Cliff Lee has sped up, and several lesser free agents have fallen into place.

But what if your team still needs pitching help? Don't worry. Even if you don't get Lee, there are still several starting pitchers and relievers worth bringing on board for 2011.

Brian Sabean has done it again.

This time he has gone out and filled the San Francisco Giants' only real hole by signing shortstop Miguel Tejada to a one-year deal. 

Tejada, a former MVP, is now 36 and at the tail end of his career. 

So the question is, is Tejada the right man to help the Giants repeat? 

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Let's get something clear right off the bat—I'm not advocating that the San Francisco Giants trade Matt Cain in the 2010-11 MLB offseason. I'm not even suggesting they should consider doing so.

The Kid has been the Giants' most consistent pitcher for years, and he's been one of the best starting pitchers in baseball for the same duration. Though Tim Lincecum is unquestionably the staff ace and justifiably dominates the limelight, his right-handed stablemate is only a nose behind him.

Free agency is a fickle beast in that money doesn’t always constitute the quality level of any given player. More often than not, teams fork over a hefty coin simply based on a player’s prior experience and what the agent “sells” the buying team into thinking.

Take for example starting pitcher Cliff Lee. His track record over the past two years arguably suggests he is worth over $100 million—arguably! But what about all those players who are better buys than Lee, isn’t that where the true value rests?

The 2010 World Series Champion San Francisco Giants.

Such a nice ring to it, wouldn't you agree?

The Major League Baseball title drought is over in The City, and the champagne showers that quenched the thirst have passed—but the euphoria is still thick. So thick, in fact, that the reality of the Commissioner's Trophy hasn't set in for many who joined the roller-coaster bandwagon in time to ride out a few of its many valleys.

As for yours truly, I strapped in sometime during the 1988 season.

After two thrilling wins in San Francisco, the World Series shifted to Arlington, Texas, on Saturday night. The Rangers finally showed some signs of life and won game three in front of their home crowd. Tonight, the Rangers will look to even the series with Tommy Hunter on the mound. The Giants will send Madison Bumgarner to the bump and are seeking a commanding three games to one lead.

The big pregame news is Giants outfielder Pat Burrell isn't starting. Instead, Nate Schierholtz will start in his place.

Game 1 of the World Series had all the feel and all the hype of NLCS Game 1, except now one of the greatest potential postseason pitchers (Roy Halladay) had been replaced by the third greatest postseason pitcher of all time in Cliff Lee, who had posted a 7-0 record with a 1.25 ERA, third to only Sandy Koufax and Christy Mathewson. 

Tim Lincecum had similarly shown that he was no postseason slouch, posting a 2-1 record with a 1.98 ERA. His opener was an electric 14 K complete game two-hit shutout.

The 2010 World Series is going to be a thing of beauty. Sure, nobody in their right minds picked the San Francisco Giants to be playing against the Texas Rangers in this year's addition of the fall classic, but both teams reached baseball's grandest stage in a similar fashion.

San Francisco has relied on its dominant starting pitching all season and through the playoffs to shut teams down.

Texas has a pretty potent offense to go along with a shutdown ace in Cliff Lee, who is still unbeaten in the postseason.

The 2010 World Series is upon us. In the next week or two we have the chance to see baseball history, to see two teams competing at the highest level for the crowning achievement in all of baseball. Along the way, perhaps we'll share in a collective moment that will last a lifetime.

As we prepare to watch the Texas Rangers face off against the San Francisco Giants in this year's Fall Classic, let's have a look back at some of the greatest moments in World Series history.