Halladay > Lee

When the Philadelphia Phillies decided to bring in Roy Halladay from Toronto and ship Cliff Lee to the Mariners, there were all kinds of "experts" saying it was a mistake. Lee was 4-0 in the postseason in 2009, and Halladay had never pitched October baseball. Lee's numbers in the regular season were better than Halladay because he had more wins, and so on.

Well, after last Wednesday, when Halladay pitched a no-hitter, the second ever post-season no-no, hours after Lee beat the Rays in Game One, there can no longer be any debate.

And now, you have the Phillies already dispatching the Reds in three straight, and Texas having to go to a fifth game against Tampa Bay (this Tuesday), there really is no more debate.

Halladay's no-hitter set the tone for the Phils-Reds series and now the ace right-hander can come back to start Game One of the NLCS against either the Braves or Giants. He'll be well-rested going into the Championship Series.

Meanwhile, because the Lee, the Texas "ace," didn't pitch Game Four on short rest--and the Rangers lost--the series with the Rays is now 2-2. Think about that for a moment. A few days ago, the Rangers were up 2-0, and they were going home for the next two games with a chance to win their first postseason series ever.

In Game Three, the Rangers were five outs away from clinching, but collapsed. Then they lost Game Four, when the Rangers decided not to have Lee pitch. Now, Texas is 0-6 all-time in home postseason games. Wow. (They lost twice at home in the 1996 Division Series, once in 1998, once in 1999, all against the Yankees, and now twice in 2010.)

Sure, management didn't want Lee to pitch on short rest because he apparently has never done it in his career. But shouldn't an ace pitcher volunteer to pitch anyway, and say, "Give me the ball," the way a Jack Morris would?

By that definition, Cliff Lee is not an ace pitcher. He may have a lot of money, he may get a huge contract this off-season, but he's not a money pitcher, not a big-game pitcher.

And if Lee falters on regular rest on Tuesday and the Rangers lose, it'll be history for sure. The 2010 Rays will be the second team ever, following the 2001 Yankees, to lose the first two games of a division series at home and bounce back to win the series.

Hey, even if Lee goes out there and dominates the Rays and gives the Rangers the series victory, there's just no way Texas will beat the Yankees in the ALCS. He won't even be available for the first two games of the ALCS against New York, and sure, he'll probably beat Phil Hughes in a Game Three matchup... but do you really think C.J. Wilson and Colby Lewis will beat the Yankees? Or Tommy Hunter over the Yankees? Didn't think so...