The season wasn’t over for a day yet when the off-season talk began. One of the burning questions for the Phillies could be whether or not to offer pitcher Cliff Lee a contract extension.
The Phillies have yet to make a decision on extending their new ace’s deal beyond next season, according to Philly.com Sports.
"Clearly, it's on our minds, but we haven't made a decision if we will yet," said General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr.
The team holds a $9 million option for 2010 and it would be fairly safe to assume that the team would at least pick up that option after Lee shined since coming over from Cleveland before the trade deadline.
Lee, though, could balk at signing any extension now. He has outperformed his current deal and might want to test free agency to see how much money a Cy Young Award winner with a sub 4.00 ERA who has a .634 winning percentage could fetch on the open market.
Add to his 90-52 career record his perfect 4-0 postseason with a 1.56 ERA on baseball’s biggest stage and this guy could be on the short list of great pitchers in baseball. He could arguably be a top-10 pitcher in baseball yet he gets paid far less than guys like Carlos Zambrano, A.J. Burnett and Jason Schmidt who unlike Lee have never won a Cy Young Award.
The Phillies payroll was around $113 million in 2009 and should continue to increase next season without forking over some more dough to the 31-year-old southpaw.
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To keep a guy who should have at least five more seasons of good throwing left in his arm the Phils would need to pay up -- possibly give Lee a deal similar to the seven-year, $161 million deal former teammate C.C. Sabathia got last off-season.
No matter the cost the Phillies need to at least try and lock down Lee beyond 2010 and they need to do it before Spring Training. The rotation is filled with question marks (Cole Hamels, J.A. Happ) and likely departures (Brett Myers, Pedro Martinez) -- having a No. 1 to put on the hill every five days should help solidify everyone else.
