Cliff Lee: Last of the Four Aces Retires

Cliff Lee: Last of the Four Aces Retires

Yesterday afternoon, one of the greatest pitchers of the last decade whom played for four teams in the past eight years, Cliff Lee announced his retirement from Major League Baseball at 37 years of age. Lee was drafted three times in four years and was not really considered a top prospect in the MLB. Lee was taken with the twelfth pick of the eighth round out of Benton High School in his hometown of Benton, Arkansas in 1997 by the Florida Marlins, but decided to attend Meridian Community College in Mississippi to gain some experience at a higher caliber level. A year later, he was taken in the twentieth round of the 1998 Draft, but again decided to attend Arkansas University instead. A couple years later in the 2000 Amateur Draft, he was picked in the fourth round by the Montreal Expos and finally decided to sign.

In 2002, Lee played for double- A Harrisburg compiling a 7-2 record with a 3.23 earned run average, but was traded to the Cleveland Indians along with Brandon Phillips and Grady Sizemore, two future and current stars in the majors, for Bartolo Colon and Tim Drew. After the trade, Lee pitched seven games with the Akron Aeros before going to the Buffalo Bisons where he pitched seven games going 3-2 thus sending him to the major leagues shortly after. Lee started his first major league game on September 15, 2002 against the Minnesota Twins where he went 5.1 innings allowing one run but still ended up with the loss due to lack of run support. He pitched one more time that season against the Royals with the same outcome as his debut pitching five innings and giving up one run, but took a no decision in the team’s loss. Lee pitched more than 200 innings winning at least fourteen games in his first three full seasons in 2005 and 2006. He finished the 2005 season with an 18-5 record and a 3.79 ERA, finishing fourth in the AL Cy Young Award running. In 2006, the team granted him a three year, 14 million dollar contract extension. After his first few good years in Cleveland, he fell off the wagon, but got back on soon after. Lee was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in 2009 where he absolutely dominated with his first start as a Philly resulting in a complete game 5-1 win. In his first five games, he compiled a 5-0 record with 39 strikeouts in 40 innings with a 0.68 ERA. He led the Phils to the 2009 World Series against the New York Yankees where in game one he pitched a complete game with no earned runs in the 6-1 win. The Phillies were defeated never-the-less in six games.

In 2010, Lee was traded to the Seattle Mariners where he had arguably one of the best seasons in his career. Lee went 8-3 with a 2.34 ERA and an 89-6 strikeout to walk ratio which netted him a 2010 All Star Game appearance which he attended as a Ranger due to being traded to Texas due to the struggle of the Mariners team that year. Lee earned his 100th win against the Oakland Athletics on August 6th and had a great year with the Rangers losing in the 2010 World Series to the San Francisco Giants. After his short stint as a Ranger, he was traded back to his favorite town, Philadelphia, in 2011.

Through four dominant years as a Philly, Lee sustained an elbow injury in 2015 which landed him on the 60 day disabled list which led to the Phillies declining his 27.5 million dollar option, thus paying his 12.5 million dollar buyout and placed him on the free agent market. This year, Lee decided to throw in the towel as a major league pitcher and retire due to injury and age. Lee finished his career with a 143-91 record, 3.52 ERA, 1,824 strikeouts and 12 shutouts outings. Lee was a four time all star in 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2013 winning the AL Cy Young Award in 2008 along with being the MLB wins and AL ERA leader accompanying his Comeback Player of the Year Award. All of those accomplishments came in 2008. Before his retirement, Lee had some words to say on the future speculations. “I am getting up there in age. I’m 35 years old. When this contract’s over, I plan on going home. I’m running out of opportunities but all I can control is what I can control. I’m going to do everything I can to help us win. That’s all I know to do.” While no athlete should be held to what they say in the heat of the moment, Lee’s decision is clearly made for him due to his injuries and his last appearance coming in 2014 against the Washington Nationals. Lee’s agent, Darak Braunecker, told the media, “we don’t anticipate him playing at this point”. By holding onto Lee’s reigns in the past few years, former GM Ruben Amaro Jr., Lee’s trade value has plummeted and him and his agent are 100 percent sure about the retirement, thus putting one of the greatest arms of the past decade, to rest.