The Philadelphia Phillies swooped in late last night to sign free agent left-handed pitcher Cliff Lee to a five-year, $120 million deal. The Phillies have a pretty good rotation with Lee, Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels. So do the San Francisco Giants with Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner.
↵And the Colorado Rockies aren't shabby either with Ubaldo Jimenez, Jorge De La Rosa, Jhoulys Chacin and Jason Hammel. It's not the top rotation, but it should be enough to push the Rockies into a playoff race in 2011.
↵But does this signing directly affect the Rockies all that much? Not really. Prognostication is always a favorite pastime of many because it is so easy to throw things out there. What we know for sure is that the Rockies will have two chances at possibly facing Cliff Lee in 2011.
↵The Rockies visit the Phillies on May 18 and May 19 for a short two-game series, and then they don't face each other again until August 1-3 at Coors Field. There will be plenty of baseball to be played between now and May and then May and August to make any predictions about where these two teams will be at those points.
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