Back to the Philadelphia Phillies Newsfeed

Cliff Lee's Phillies legacy: He wanted to pitch here

Cliff Lee will not pitch in the major leagues anymore.

You are excused if you had forgotten that it was (technically) possible he might. After Lee had missed the entire 2015 season with a torn tendon in his left elbow, the Phillies had declined, in November, to pick up his option for 2016, paying $12.5 million to buy out his contract's final year. No other team signed him. He is 37 and has an unreliable arm, and 37-year-olds with unreliable arms don't often sign with major-league teams, even if they are left-handed and were once among the best pitchers in baseball.