It's Cliff Lee's world, we're just living in it

I used a similar title after Game 1 of last year's World Series about Cole Hamels, who has now officially been supplanted as the Phillies ace by Clifton Phifer Lee.

Lee's great night (complete game, 10 strikeouts) against the Yankees has been well-documented. It was a thing of beauty - especially against the Yankees, whose fans were surely taking the defending champs lightly.

Last year, we enjoyed watching Cole dominate the playoffs as Josh Beckett did the year before. Now, it's Cliff Lee's time. Hopefully, he can repeat either Beckett's World Series (he was used just once as the Red Sox swept) or Hamels (started Games 1 and 5 in the 4-1 win series win).

But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Last night is over. Today is a new day and it's time to see whether Pedro Martinez (who used to own the universe) can follow up yesterday's rambling, but amusing, press conference with a virtuoso performance like he had against the Dodgers in the NLCS.

As a Red Sox fan, I've enjoyed many Pedro starts in which his opponents had no chance - it was just a matter of how few hits and many strikeouts he would get.

But also as a Red Sox fan, I've sat through some of the later-year Pedro starts where you wondered if he would last through three innings.

Through five, it's been closer to the former Pedro than the latter Pedro. He's allowed one run, a solo home run to Mark Teixeira, on three hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

Unfortunately, A.J. Burnett, who I thought would be even more of a crapshoot than Pedro, is matching him. In the middle of the 6th, it's tied 1-1.

Look back at 2008: Christine and I took a look back at our experience during the first half of Game 5 as we headed back to watch the finale. I'd tell you how it turns out, but that's not posted until tomorrow's look back.

[Photo credit: US Presswire]

Elvis has left the building

The Phillies have found their man to play left field as they try to repeat as World Champions in 2009. No word yet whether he's got a bull dog to completely replace Pat Burrell and Elvis in Philadelphia.

I'm sure Raul Ibanez is a capable replacement and that he's as underrated as everyone says he is. But is it really better to sign a 36-year-old, who is really just a glorified Jeff Conine or Kevin Millar, to a three-year $30 million contract as opposed to whatever Pat Burrell is going to wind up with?

I completely agree with jettisoning aging stars to avoid stagnating a championship team (see: Martinez, Pedro; Damon, Johnny). But what's the point if you're just going to get older and probably just as expensive?

I know I should give the benefit of the doubt to the brain trust that's coming off a World Championship, and that Pat Burrell has his flaws, but I don't like this. And I'm not going to like watching the Phillies clinch their third straight division title without Elvis on the field.

In her online chat today, Amalie Benjamin put the kibosh on the once-rumored Julio Lugo for Eric Byrnes deal. So it looks like neither of our teams will have a bull dog.

This just in: It looks like the Yankees bought another one - A.J. Burnett. Won't they ever learn?

[Photo credit: Jose F. Moreno, Courier-Post - it's an old photo so I can't say for sure he still works there]

These better be just rumors

Not a good day for SoxandPhils fans if the daily rumors become reality.

The Sox have been talking again to A.J. Burnett. This doesn't make sense. A pitcher with a history of injuries is exactly the long-term commitment the Sox have avoided.

Even worse is that they've now been linked to Carl Pavano. I know it would probably be a low-risk, Bartolo Colon-type deal. But c'mon. The guy was a laughingstock in New York. Just honor his place in Red Sox lore (as trade bait for Pedro Martinez and the embarrassment he caused the Yankees) and let it be.

Incidentally, that Nick Cafardo report may clarify Derek Lowe's standing with the Phillies: The team denies making an offer, but the player is said to want to go there. Maybe the Phillie denials are true, but D-Lowe doesn't want them to be.

Phillies: My alarm kicked on this morning midway through Rhea Hughes' report of some trade that could involve J.A. Happ, the Padres and Chris Coste. I know that Jake Peavy wouldn't go to Philadelphia, so I wondered what it was all about. I was less than enthralled when I found out the deal would send Peavy to the Cubs and bring Mark DeRosa to the Phillies for Happ.

{Update: The deal could involve Kyle Kendrick, not Happ.}

Complicated deals like this tend to fall apart. Let's hope so. DeRosa doesn't thrill me, and he's no Pat Burrell.

The only good rumbling of the day comes from bits I picked up from WFAN. Apparently, there's word that the Red Sox meeting with CC Sabathia wasn't exactly to lure him to Boston but to remind him how awful it would be playing for the Yankees. If true, I can't exactly be thrilled with the tact.

I am enjoying how the Yankee fans are growing frustrated that the big guy hasn't accepted the Yankees offer. Gee, maybe he wants to see if a championship-caliber team makes him an offer.

Game day: The Phillies held off the Nationals today ... oh wait. We already recapped this one. As I was watching the replay of the NL East clincher, Comcast SportsNet broke in with some real news. I was nervous as Neil Hartman started talking, given all the crazy rumors that are swirling. But he was just reporting the good news that Charlie Manuel will be the Phillies manager through 2011. Good for him - he deserves it.

Free agent nibbling

A Yankee-loving colleague, who hasn't been thrilled with the Yankees' desire to have CC Sabathia open their new park, wasn't happy either with recent reports that the Angels are about to jump into the fray. If CC gets his wish and stays out West, he reasoned, there's even more of a chance the Yankees would overpay for A.J. Burnett.

Burnett, who has just two seasons (both preceding free agency years) of making at least 30 starts, has been linked to several teams. He's already been mentioned in Boston, but that seemed like a move to drive up his price for the Yankees. And now, perhaps more puzzling, he's being discussed in Philadelphia.

I don't buy it. The Phillies overpay for mediocre free agent pitchers - see Eaton, Adam - but not usually for ones who will command top dollar. They're also linked to Derek Lowe, who makes a bit more sense given he won't cost as much in dollars or years. But as Christine reasons, even if they lose Jamie Moyer, they still have J.A. Happ, Kyle Kendrick and Carlos Carrasco to fill the last two slots in the rotation. Oh yeah, I'm forgetting somebody else. Did I mention him already today?

Christine and I have thought it's been a quiet off-season. I didn't think too much about it because neither of our teams faces major overhauls. But turns out it's one of the slowest starts to off-season maneuvering ever.