Suck It, Spankees, Suck It!!

Cliff Lee Agrees to $100M Deal With Phillies

NEW YORK -- Cliff Lee is returning to the Philadelphia Phillies, turning down an extra $50 million from the New York Yankees to rejoin the team that traded him a year ago.

The free-agent pitcher reached a preliminary agreement on a $100 million, five-year contract with the Phillies on Monday night, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press.

The agreement is subject to the 32-year-old left-hander passing a physical, the person said on condition of anonymity because the agreement was not final.

The Yankees and Texas Rangers had been considered the front-runners
, but the Phillies wound up with the most-prized free agent of the offseason, reaching a deal that gives them a dominant rotation that likely is the strongest in the majors.

Lee, the 2008 AL Cy Young Award winner, joins reigning NL Cy Young winner Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels in a fearsome foursome.