Wins have always been overrated in terms of baseball statistics, but typically if a pitcher is good enough and consistent over time the wins will come. However, that has not been the case for one of the best pitchers in a baseball, Philadelphia Phillies’ ace Cliff Lee.

The trend continued on Tuesday night as Lee picked up his third defeat of the season in a 2-1 loss to the Dodgers in which he went 7 2/3 innings allowing just two runs and striking out 10.

It’s June 6 and the former Cy Young Award Winner is still without a win.  Granted he did miss a few starts in late April after a brief stint on the DL, but Lee still has made 10 starts without the benefit of earning a victory.

He has recorded a quality start in all but two outings, boasts a 2.92 ERA and 66/11 K:BB walk rate in 64 2/3 innings yet is 0-3 on the season.

"I’m not really frustrated," he told reporters after the game. "I’m not. All I can do is throw pitches. I don’t set goals, that I’ve got to have this many wins or whatever. I just want to put up as many zeros as I can, get deep in the game, throw strikes, don’t walk guys, give the team a chance to win. That’s all I can do and that’s what I’m going to continue to try to do."

As the Philadelphia Daily News’ Rich Hoffman points out, “Lee’s hard luck is starting to tease recent baseball history. Lee now has nine straight winless starts in which he has lasted at least six innings, struck out at least four batters and given up no more than five runs. It has been 7 years since a pitcher had a longer streak of winless excellence with those stats: Milwaukee’s Doug Davis in 2005.”

The problem is not with Lee though, rather focuses around the Phillies’ makeshift lineup. Playing much of the season without many of the team’s offensive juggernauts the Phillies have sputtered on the scoreboard. As bad as it seems, Philadelphia still is third in the NL in batting average and sixth in runs scored. They are simply not crossing the plate when Lee takes the hill.

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Here are my predictions for the upcoming MLB season…

NL East – Phillies
NL Central – Reds
NL West – Giants
NL Wildcard – Braves

AL East – Red Sox
AL Central – Tigers
AL West – Rangers
AL Wildcard – Yankees

World Series – Red Sox over Phillies

NL MVP – Carlos Gonzalez (COL)
NL Cy Young – Cliff Lee (PHI)
NL Rookie of Year – Brandon Belt (SF)

AL MVP – Miguel Cabrera (DET)
AL Cy Young – C.C. Sabathia (NYY)
AL Rookie of Year – Jeremy Hellickson (TB)

COMPLETE TEAM PREVIEWS

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In one of the most surprising moves in this MLB offseason free agent left hander Cliff Lee has opted to sign a five-year deal with the Philadelphia Phillies rather than the Yankees and Rangers, who believed to be the two favorites to land the highly-touted ace.

The deal is worth $120 million and nearly $50 million on the table with Yankees.

Lee posted a 3.18 ERA and 1.00 WHIP over 28 starts this past year for the Mariners and Rangers, striking out 185 batters while issuing only 18 walks.

The Phillies traded him last season in a three-team deal that brought this year’s NL Cy Young winner Roy Halladay to Philadelphia. Lee now joins Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels to give Philly a Fab Four in the rotation that could go down as one of the best in league history.

WHAT IT MEANS FOR…

Phillies – They have the tools in place to continue to build a dynasty. Look for them to shop Joe Blanton, who is owned $17 million over the next two years, in an attempt to cushion payroll concerns. The offense has more questions in it, but is more than capable of producing runs.

Rest of NL East – Nice season. The Phillies were already favorites in the division and now that multiplies immensley. No other team has the arms to compete with them in series after series. No team is likely to stand a bigger hit than the rebuilding New York Mets.

Yankees – Big losers. Rarely is the Evil Empire's money turned down, but in this case Lee opted to go where he wanted to. After watching the rival Red Sox acquire Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford in the past week and facing a future with Andy Pettitte as the team's No. 2 pitcher it may be time to panic in the Bronx.

Rangers – Clearly they would have loved to have Lee, but in the long run it may be best that the franchise didn't handcuff its future on one arm. They will likely add pitching elsewhere and still have a great, young nucleus to compete in a much weaker AL West.

Fantasy Owners – Lee has always been fantasy gold, but a return to the Senior Circuit can only help his numbers. In addition, he will get plenty of great run support playing for the Phillies a place where he has already excelled.

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How impressive was Cliff Lee on Monday night? He moved to 7-0 in post-season play for his career with an astounding 1.26 ERA as the Rangers went up 2-1 in the ALCS.

The lefty has just topped off one the best three-game stints with 34 strikeouts and just one walk through 24 innings of work.

Here’s what they are saying about him around the web…

Rob Neyer, ESPN.com
If we're going to blast a Mount Rushmore of postseason pitchers, we have to consider likenesses of Schilling and Smoltz, along with probably Bob Gibson and -- because it would just be wrong not to -- Mariano Rivera, even though he's never started a postseason game.  But among starters with fewer than 100 postseason innings, Lee would seem to stand alone, or nearly alone. In nine postseason starts, Gibson went 7-2 with a 1.89 ERA. But Gibson pitched in a pitcher's era, and his brilliant strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.4) was roughly half of Lee's (9.6). Roughly the same might be said of Koufax (who pitched fewer postseason innings than Lee).

Mike Vaccaro, NYPost.com
As much as Yankees fans feared Lee, as much as past performance suggested he’d ascended to the very top of the list of postseason pitching phenomena, he was even better. This was “Born to Run” living up to and beyond the covers of Newsweek and Time. This was “Avatar” selling more tickets than even James Cameron would’ve dreamed.

Mike Seilski, WallStreetJournal.com
Of course, with every brilliant game he pitches this postseason—he is now 3-0 with a 0.75 earned-run average, 34 strikeouts and one walk over 24 playoff innings this month—Mr. Lee drives up his value on the open market.  In fact, he already has pushed it so high, according to a pair of sports economists, that it's theoretically possible for him to price the Yankees out of the bidding for him.

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Peter Gammons is reporting that the Reds level of interest in acquiring Cliff Lee is high. And can you blame them? Imagine the stud lefty anchoring the #1 slot in this rotation. However, the alarming thing was the one name bantered about in this potential deal – Travis Wood.

I would ask if the Mariners would be interested in Homer Bailey and Yonder Alonso and name a mid-level prospect for Lee. If I were Walt Jocketty, I would make sure that neither Leake nor Wood are included in any trades this year. But, imagine, adding two All Stars in Lee and soon-to-be-off-DL Edison Volquez to this rotation. Acquiring Lee would send the message to the Cardinals and more importantly, the fans, that this team is for real.

That type of deal would allow Aaron Harang to slide into the bullpen (and be an injury-replacement starter) and could sure up the still-shaky bullpen. Then imagine this rotation for the second half:

--Cliff Lee

--Edison Volquez

--Johnny Cueto

--Bronson Arroyo

--Mike Leake

***
Wow! Can you say October baseball in the Nati??

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If his first start since requesting a trade, Houston Astros’ ace Roy Oswalt turned in one of his best efforts of the season in a 5-0 win over the Brewers. The right-hander pitched eight shutout innings while tossing a season-high nine strikeouts.

Despite boasting just a 3-6 record (more of a reflection of Houston’s terrible offense), Oswalt’s 2.35 ERA and 69:17 strikeout-to-walk ratio through 69 innings suggest that the 32-year old still has plenty left in the tank.

It remains to be seen if the Astros are going to deal Oswalt or not, but his value could be hindered by the fact the Mariners will also have soon-to-be free agent Cliff Lee also on the market.

As FOXSports.com’s Ken Roesenthal points out, Lee is younger, pitched better in 2008-09, makes less money, has succeeded in both leagues and could help a team obtain picks in next year’s draft.

LATEST OSWALT RUMORS (MLBTradeRumors.com)

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The Mariners have already added Cliff Lee and re-signed Felix Hernandez this off-season giving them one of baseball's best 1-2 punches.

Mariners star pitcher Felix Hernandez will be announced today.

Hernandez flew from Venezuela to Seattle on Wednesday to take a physical and also to be present for the announcement of what is reported to be a five-year, $78 million extension.

The yearly breakdowns of that $78 million also leaked out Tuesday evening. Hernandez will get a signing bonus of $3.5 million and a $6.5 million salary this season. It will be followed by $10 million in 2011, $18.5 million in 2012, $19.5 million in 2013 and $20 million in 2014. The deal reportedly has a limited no-trade clause and performance incentives, including progressive bonuses for his finish in the American League Cy Young voting.

While the Hernandez deal is being finalized, Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik continued his daily search for talent. Zduriencik made sure Seattle was one of 20 or so teams represented at an open workout for right-handed starting pitcher Ben Sheets in Monroe, La.

COMPLETE ARTICLE (Tacoma News Tribune)

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What a week it was in the Hot Stove League around Major League Baseball…

HALLADAY, LEE INVOLVED IN 3-TEAM DEAL
The rich get richer. The Philadelphia Phillies, a team heavy in left-handed pitching, added one of baseball’s best right-handers, Roy Halladay.  Here are the specifics:

… Seattle gets Lee.

… Philadelphia gets Halladay from Toronto, along with right-hander Phillippe Aumont, outfielder Tyson Gillies and Juan Ramirez from Seattle.

… Toronto gets right-hander Kyle Drabek, outfielder Michael Taylor and catcher Travis d’Arnaud from Philadelphia.

…Toronto has already flipped Taylor to the Athletics for third baseman Brett Wallace.

…The Blue Jays will also send $6 million in cash to the Phillies to help defray Halladay’s $15.75 million salary for 2010.

…In agreeing to a trade to Philadelphia, Roy Halladay has also secured a three-year, $20 million extension through 2013.

MORE
--Boston lands John Lackey and Mike Cameron and now has the sites focused on Adrian Gonzalez

--The Mets are zeroing in on free agent outfielder Jason Bay

--Orioles join Cardinals in bidding for Matt Holliday

--Baltimore signs Garrett Atkins, Mike Gonzalez

--Matsui, Angels Agree To Deal

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A month ago it seemed as if the Los Angeles Dodgers were hands down the pick to win the National League. However, between pithcing woes and moves by the Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals have made that proposition seem less likely. The Phillies added defended AL Cy Young winner Cliff Lee and the Cardinals beefed up their batting order with the addition of Matt Holliday in a pair of deadline deals. Thus far, the moves are paying off.

Let's look at the impact the two players have made since putting on their new uniforms:

CLIFF LEE (through  4 starts)
4-0, 0.82 ERA, 2 CG's, 33 IP, 34 K's, 6 BB, 3 ER

MATT HOLLIDAY (through 24 games)
.417 BA, 5 HR, 23 RBI's, 17 R, 8 BB

With the Dodgers fading fast, look for the Phillies and Cardinals to continue to soar and one of them will likely be the NL's representative in the World Series.

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Rick Broering and Greg Shoemaker break down the deadline deals, including the Reds' acquistion of Scott Rolen:

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