2054.28 Nine Sign Dave Lee to 5 Year, 40 Million Dollar Extension
Yellow Springs, OH: The Yellow Springs Nine and veteran starting pitcher Dave Lee have agreed to a new 5 year extension that will keep the 156 game-winning starter with the team through 2060, if Lee picks up the player option in 2060. Each year is worth $8,000,000, with a few bonuses thrown in for reaching 150 pitches, i.e. being a regular starter that year.
Lee, the sole All-Star for the Nine in 2054, first came to the team in a trade in 2042. He became a regular for the major league club in 2043, and has started 374 of the 383 games he's played for the nine, with a career record of 156-76 with zero saves. He sports a 1.09 career WHIP and is closing in on 2000 career strikeouts against less than 400 career walks.
"I'll be honest, I didn't think I'd still be here," said Lee. "Especially not after 2053."
Lee is referring to his down year in which he had a 8-13 record, 5.12 ERA (his worst since his rookie year and well above his career mark of 3.63), 3.4 bb/9 (over double his career of 1.6), and removal from the starting rotation.
"I'm not going to pretend that we had this planned all along," said GM Rob McMonigal. "I shopped Lee in 2052 and 2053 and no takers. We were honest with him, and he was honest with us – he was going to prove why the other teams passing on him were wrong. I'm proud of what he's accomplished this year. As soon as we saw that Lee was dedicated to rebounding, we started the talks. And now we have another player set to be a member of the Nine for life – and maybe even another Hall of Fame Pitcher. If Lee can keep this up for another five years, he's capable of getting over 200 wins and close to 3,000 strikeouts. Maybe even more. That's got to put him into the conversation."
Asked if Lee was worried about being traded away, he just shrugged. "I'm not going to let it bother me. If I do, it will be to a winning team. I've never been able to get a ring. Not even when we were amazing. So this is win-win: Either I help shape the next generation of pitchers here or I'm flipped to a team that can take me to the Brewster. And if we get really lucky, maybe I get to do both right here."
