5 Reasons It's Better The New York Mets Didn't Get Cliff Lee

Mets fans were disappointed to hear that Cliff Lee was traded to Texas instead of Flushing.  But there is a kool-aid elixir for everything, and I’m here to serve it to you.  Here are the top 5 reasons why the Mets are better off WITHOUT Cliff Lee.

He can’t even handle Texas.  Lee was lit up in his Rangers debut to the tune of 6 runs.  If he can’t handle the pressure of a pennant race in Texas, where people care more about high school football than major league baseball, how could he have been counted on to perform well in New York City?   

He will be a Yankee soon anyway.  Let’s be honest, the Yankees will end up signing Cliff Lee this offseason.  After all, it’s been a whole two years since they signed a big time free agent pitcher (Sabathia and Burnett) to a massive contract.  By not signing Lee, the Mets spared us the heartbreak of watching him walk to our cross town rival in three months.

Remember Tom Glavine?  Just like Tom Glavine was obviously sent by rival Atlanta to sabotage the 2007 Mets playoff hopes, Lee could not have been trusted if on the Mets.  Sure, he only spent two months with the Phillies compared to Glavine’s 16 seasons with the Braves, but Lee was very likely brainwashed last year by his great success and playoff run in Philly.  The last thing the Mets needed was to employ another rival pitcher with ulterior motives.

The past.  The Mets have not had the best of luck trading for starting pitchers mid-season.  Kenny Rogers, Kris Benson and Oliver Perez come to mind immediately.  None of those guys will be inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame any time soon.  

The future.  The Mariners reportedly wanted Ike Davis and/or Jon Niese for Lee.  At the very least, it probably would have taken some combination of Mejia, Thole, F-Mart, and Wilmer Flores*.  Hopefully in five years we will be watching these homegrown Mets succeed while a 37 year old Lee is doing his best Kevin Brown impression for the Yankees. 

*Disclaimer: Mets Kool-Aid reserves the right to deny ever writing this post if these guys turn into anything resembling Alex Escobar or Bill Pulsipher while Cliff Lee becomes a Hall of Famer.  

This post was written by Mike Simon.