In the end he takes substantially less money in order to play in a place he likes, and that place is not Texas.  He did not take the money, and he did not pick us.  That sucks.  Now that I am done editorializing, maybe we should move on to the fantasy impact.

Ultimately, is there a significant fantasy impact of Lee going back to Philadelphia?  We are talking about a guy who has posted stud-caliber numbers in four different cities over the past three years.  His ERA was somewhat higher in his stops at hitter’s parks (3.39 in Philly, 3.98 in Texas), but his strikeout rate was consistently around seven to eight K/9, and his walk rate was consistently around one walk per nine innings or lower.  That is not going to change wherever he pitches.  

So we are talking about strikeouts and WHIP remaining relatively similar and a probable uptick in ERA which should be offset by an increased number of wins thanks to a solid Philly lineup.

The point is this: Whatever your feelings were about Cliff Lee a few hours ago, those should still be your feeling about Cliff Lee now.  Maaaaaaaybe you bump him up a spot or two in your personal pitcher rankings (am I the only one who actually keeps a spreadsheet for that kind of thing?).  Personally, I had Lee sixth behind Halladay, King Felix, Wainwright, Lester, and Lincecum (in that order) prior to the news of the signing.  I might bump him ahead of Lincecum, but at this elite level are we not just splitting hairs?  

Here is how this plays out on draft day.  In a ten-team league you are going to see somewhere around ten pitchers taken in the first four rounds.  The three cream-of-the-crop guys of the year will usually be drafted in the first two rounds among the legitimate, no-doubt-about-it hitters, and the other elite guys will help fill out rounds three and four when the quality of available hitters falls off a bit.  I guess what I’m trying to say is that you should not overreact and place Lee among that group of pitchers that deserves to go in the first two rounds.  Pitching is so much easier to come by than hitting, and you cannot waste the opportunity to get a hitter that you know is going to put up big numbers for you.  

Let someone else in your league be the guy to “overpay” for an elite starter.

Written by Brett Talley exclusively for thefantasyfix.com.  Brett is a law student in Dallas who hopes Cliff Lee tears a rotator cuff in Spring Training.  You can follow him on Twitter @therealTAL.