By G. Emrich

The All-Star teams were announced yesterday, or as Phillies fans like to call it, “One more time to have Cliff Lee thrown in our face”.  Despite missing the first month of the season, one Clifton Phifer Lee (I kid you not, that is his full name) was selected for the team, and deservedly so.

And so it’s time to take a trip back memory lane, way back to last December, when for a week or two Phillies fans went to bed dreaming of a Halladay/Lee front end of the rotation, or a Halladay/Lee/Hamels (circa 2008) top three, or a Halladay/Lee/Hamels08/Happ09 top four, so on and so forth.  And let me tell you, those were some beautiful dreams.

Of course that dream came to an unceremonious end when it became clear that the Phillies brass had no intention of keeping Lee and Halladay, and the dream slowly developed into a nightmare when Happ09 turned into Happ Myelbowhurts and Hamels transformed into some sort of frustrating 08/09 tease.  And that of course, as all Phillies fan are painfully aware, was only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. 

I am not passing judgment on the Cliff Lee deal, as that would be getting ahead of ourselves a wee bit.  But it is worth looking at the impact of the deal as we stand now.  And the view isn’t pretty.

The facts are these.  Cliff Lee is one of the best pitchers in baseball, and every bit as good as Roy Halladay.  I’m not sure there’s a realistic way to measure the difference he would have made for the Phillies during the first half of the 2010 season, but suffice it to say that it would be dramatic, almost certainly more than enough to make up the lead the Braves have, and most likely a little more. 

His performance/ability alone doesn’t tell the whole story.  Imagine how dominant the Phillies would have been early in the season when the bats were hot and the starting pitching was not.  How far would the Phillies have buried the competition in that first part of the season?  And how comforting would it have been to know Halladay/Lee were there to lean on when the injuries started piling up?  Admittedly, we’re playing the “what if?” game here, so there’s no way to know exactly how everything would have turned out, but I think the words “substantially” and “better” would be prominently involved regardless.

Making matters worse are the performances thus far of the three prospects the Phillies received from the Mariners in return for Cliff Lee.  Aumont, Gillies and Ramirez have all struggled mightily, and that’s putting it kindly.

Lastly, it appears likely that the Mariners will trade Lee this summer, and indeed will almost certainly receive more in compensation than the Phillies received only six months ago.  Permit me a quick, albeit graphic analogy, if you will.  The initial trade was akin to a stomach punch, uncomfortable, but ultimately forgettable.  Lee’s 2010 performance combined with the Phillies 2010 struggles, a few well placed kicks while you’re on the ground trying to catch your breath from the stomach punch.  Aumont/Gillies/Ramirez collectively stinking up the joint means they’ve decided to urinate on your incapacitated body.  And if they end up trading Lee for loot that makes our haul look like a poor man’s treasure, then they might as well leave us in the gutter, beat up, pissed on, and as they’re walking away the ring leader says “and I banged your girlfriend last night”.  Saying they’ve added insult to injury just doesn’t quite do it justice.

The worst part of course, is that as bad as it is right now, it can actually get much worse.  The Phillies can continue to wallow in mediocrity, struggling for consistent starting pitching.  And Lee could be traded to a contender, and pitch in and win a World Series.  I’m not sure how much worse we can make the analogy, but I’m guessing our poor fellow who’s lying in the gutter, cracked ribs, cheating girlfriend, smelling like urine, could probably still lose his job and get robbed.

Of course, like all good sports fans, I am the eternal optimist.  I shall pick myself up out of the gutter, consider getting beat up and pissed on as a necessary life experience that will ultimately make me a stronger person, and better that I found out my girlfriend was a slut now than after I proposed.  I’m taking the engagement ring back so that if I happen to lose my job or get robbed I’ll have some money to get by on.  Go Phils.