Cliff Lee signs with Phillies, spurns Yankees

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The Angels thought they would sign Carl Crawford, for sure. The Boston Red Sox swooped in and signed him.

Now the New York Yankees know how the Angels feel. The Yankees tossed their financial might at pitcher Cliff Lee, and the Philadelphia Phillies swooped in and signed him.

The deal was first revealed by T.R. Sullivan at mlb.com, who reported that the Texas Rangers were told Monday night that Lee had agreed to terms with Philadelphia.

Kudos to Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. and team ownership, for not simply deciding a starting rotation of Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels was pretty good, or good enough. And how about a rematch of that National League Championship Series: Halladay, Oswalt, Hamels and Lee for the Phillies against Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner for the San Francisco Giants?

Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti has done an admirable job in assembling a rotation on a tight budget. In Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Hiroki Kuroda, Ted Lilly and Jon Garland, the Dodgers can throw out a quality starter every night. With the possible exception of Kershaw, though, it’s difficult to imagine how any of the Dodgers starters could crack the rotation in Philadelphia or San Francisco.

-- Bill Shaikin