Best rotation ever: Phillies land Cliff Lee

The signing that was too good to be true actually happened: Cliff Lee has signed with the Phillies. Forgoing more years and more money in offers from the Yankees and Rangers, Lee has chosen to return to Philadelphia in a 5 year deal worth more than 100 million dollars. The fact that Lee took less money to play in Philly likely instantly makes him the most beloved player in the city.

With the addition of Lee, the Phillies have the best rotation in baseball and possibly the best rotation of all time. Take the perfection of Roy Halladay, the dominance of Lee, the brilliance of Cole Hamels and the toughness of Roy Oswalt and you have a rotation with four legitimate aces. As an added bonus, the rotation can even be set up to go right, left, right, left to give the opponents fits.

Now that the Phillies have used all of their money on another pitcher, it's unclear what their plans are for the rest of the offseason. Priority number one will be dealing Joe Blanton to free up salary with more possible salary dumps on the way. After that, the Phillies still will likely look for another right handed bat to add to the outfield but don't look for them to do much more than that. After all, when you have a rotation like this, you really don't need that much offense.

It's a testament to the city of Philadelphia and its fans that Cliff Lee has left money on the table to return to play for the Phillies. Lee knew that the fans here were in love with the guy the moment he put on the uniform so he jumped at the first chance to return. With a rotation of Halladay, Lee, Hamels and Oswalt, the next few seasons are going to be incredible.