Phillies Pick Up Lee's Option

Sports News - November 7th, 2009 - Written by John

It probably took about a half-a-second for the Philadelphia Phillies to make their first roster move since the end of the World Series.

Just two days after his MVP-worthy performance in the championship, Cliff Lee's 2010 option was picked up the my the NL Champs, for a reported $9 million. The extra year in essence buys the club more time to re-sign the former Cy Young winner to a long-term extension, which remains one of their top priorities.

Lee was brilliant in the playoffs, throwing two complete games and winning each of his four starts. Two of those wins came in the World Series, the only two games the Phillies won against the New York Yankees. His ERA of 1.56 was better than any other starter in the entire playoffs.

He was traded to Philadelphia midway through the season by the Cleveland Indians, the club he had won the Cy Young with the year before. He was traded in a similar fashion as Game One opponent C.C. Sabathia was when the Indians realized they would not contend for the division and needed to dump cap space. Yahoo! Sports suggests Lee might even get a long-term deal comparable to Sabathia's seven-year, $161 million he got from the Yankees last off-season.

In 12 starts, Lee was 7-4 with a 3.39 ERA with the Phillies in the regular-season.

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