News Flash: Charlie Manuel would like to have had Cliff Lee in the rotation

Cholly on the Cliff Lee trade:

“Halladay is the best pitcher in baseball right now. Lee is a tad behind him. Of course it would’ve been nice to have both of them. It’d be good to have Halladay, Lee, Hamels. I’d be looking good. I might even be buying more expensive furniture than the Mrs. has been buying me lately.”

“The Mrs.” Though I can’t stand the Phillies, I really love Manuel. Partially because he’s a West Virgina boy, but mostly because every time he talks I get the sense that he’s been sent here from the mid 20th Century to teach us all to just chill out and to speak and act more plainly. There’s a reason this Onion piece was so damn funny. It’s really hard to explain in words. Anyway, Manuel goes on:

“Baseball is a business and I understand a lot of things. I have my own opinion and suggestions, but like everybody else I have a boss. From a business standpoint, the last two or three years they’ve definitely made good decisions. I trust them.”

I suppose it’d be much more interesting if If I’m Manuel had talked about how much better the team is without Cliff Lee -- “that sonofabitch, good riddance!” -- but I’ll accept this story too. I’d want Lee around if I was Charlie Manuel. I’d want Felix Hernandez, Tim Lincecum and a nice frosty Ballantine’s ale, a new pair of Florsheims and some Burma Shave too, I imagine. That’s just the kind of guy Manuel is.